A Hero Needs his Light
by mogirl97
Summary: Olicity Drabbles and One-shots
1. A Hero Needs His Light

**So this is just a short little story of what could happen when Oliver returns from the LOA and a conversation with Felicity about what he learned while he was away. This is mostly just speculation since ep. 9 hasn't aired yet and I don't really know much of the details of Oliver leaving...**

The soft click of Felicity's heels echoed loudly through the empty foundry as she descended the stairs. Roy and Diggle had gone home after an easy bank robbery bust that night and she was returning only to retrieve a drive she had left in her computer. When she turned the corner at the bottom of the stairs she stood frozen and stared at the scene in front of her.

"I'm hallucinating, great now I'm hallucinating, I am so far off the handle I am losing my grip on reality and now I'm talking to myself and-"

"Felicity!" Oliver grunted, cutting her off.

Felicity stepped forward and recoiled slightly at the sight of Oliver's battered and bloody body lying on the table.

Months.

It had been months since she had last laid eyes on him after he had left to fight Ra's, her forehead burning with what she thought was the last time she would feel his lips. She tentatively reached a hand forward and touched the side of his face, running her thumb gently along a small cut.

"It's you. It's really you," her voice cracked as tears began to well up in her eyes despite her best efforts not to cry, "I thought you were dead." She scanned her eyes down his body and felt her stomach flip at the amount of blood soaking his shirt, "Oliver you need medical attention, how did you even get here?"

"It's not as bad as it looks, you can handle it," Oliver reassured her, covering her hand with his own.

Felicity took a deep breath and went to retrieve the medical supplies. She cut open his shirt and peeled it off. Oliver was right, most of the blood was old and dried; she carefully began to clean his torso so she could assess what wounds were fresh. There was a million questions she wanted to ask but Oliver looked so tired and she was just overcome with relief that he was here and alive.

Oliver however, began to talk without her prompting, "After the fight, Ra's was impressed with my skills and deemed I was more useful to him alive than dead. I had to do what he said. If I couldn't beat him I had to comply. It was the only way to keep everyone safe."

Felicity started to sew delicate little stitches into his side. A harsh contrast next to the rough stitches he had probably done himself while he was away.

"I couldn't do it though, live that life again, I mean I tried, but I'm just not like them anymore," Oliver continued, "maybe I never really was like them. I wasn't dismissed without consequence, which is what all this is from, but I don't think the league will have any more business in Starling."

Felicity just listened quietly as she started to clean another wound.

After a few minutes of silence, Oliver continued, "I realized something important though. I thought that I couldn't be the Arrow and Oliver Queen. That I had to give up everything that made me who I am when I'm not wearing the hood. But it's because I haven't fully let go of Oliver that I can be the Arrow. The members of the league, they have shed everything of their former selves. They can't be heroes, they have to stay in the darkness because they let go of their light."

Felicity finished her final stitch and looked up at him.

"Felicity, I need you. I've always known that, but it wasn't until I was away from you for so long that I realized how much."

She thought she understood what he was saying but there was still the part of her that had been hurt so many times by him dangling maybes around that kept her from assuming anything. Guarded.

"Clearly, I mean these stitches you did yourself are atrocious and I don't know how you could find anyone without my facial recognition software and-"

Oliver pulled her down to him and kissed her gently "That's not what I meant," he whispered, "I need you because you're the one who brings out the light in me. I need you because I love you."

The walls she had spent months constructing to protect her heart came crumbling down, "I love you too."

He sat up with a grimace.

"Should you be moving?" Felicity asked with concern.

"I got here in one piece, I think I can sit up." Oliver flashed her a smile.

"Yeah well I don't even want to know how you got here considering the mess I just cleaned up," Felicity shot back, even though deep down she was relieved he was still his frustratingly stubborn self. It surprised her that of all the things she missed when Oliver was gone, their banter was high on the list.

"Fine Dr. Smoak, why don't you help me over to my bed then. A night on a metal table isn't really what I had in mind after months without much sleep."

She slung his arm over her shoulder and helped him walk slowly over to his bed. When they passed by the fern she could have sworn it looked perkier than it had in a long time. She helped him lie down and pulled a blanket over him.

"I should probably call Diggle and Roy and Thea and Laurel and-"

"Felicity, it's 1 am. They can see me in the morning. If they think I'm dead, a few more hours won't make a difference. Will you stay with me though?"

She sat down on the edge of the bed and slipped off her shoes and glasses, "of course."

She laid down next to him and he pulled her in close despite the pain she imagined was shooting through his body. It was something they had never done before, lying so close together, their slow even breaths matching each other, but it felt so normal, so natural. Their hands intertwined. Neither of them could sleep though so Felicity talked about everything that had happened while he was away. Sara had started talking- well, babbling. Roy had stepped up in his absence and had led the team so well. Cisco had sent over some new toys - erm gadgets. Her mother had visited again. The hours passed and she realized that Oliver had fallen asleep. She had never seen him look so peaceful and the sight brought a smile to her lips. She pressed a kiss to his forehead, echoing the one he had given her all those months ago and closed her eyes.

**_Hope you liked it :)_**


	2. What's Real

_**What's Real...**_

Felicity rubbed slow gentle circles into Oliver's back trying to get him to calm down. It was his second episode like this since returning from whatever had transpired on that mountain. She wasn't sure how exactly the Lazarus pit had worked its magic but it was times like this where she saw its side effects. The first time he had quickly worn himself into a fitful sleep and woken seemingly alright but it had been over an hour now and there were no signs of his racing heart rate or shallow breaths slowing anytime soon. He was trapped. Trapped in his own mind relaying the horrors he had experienced over the years. She wanted to be able to do something for him. Anything. Roy was pacing across the foundry and Diggle was sitting in the corner with his head in his hands.

"There's really nothing either of you can do right now so you should just go home. I'll call you if he gets worse," she told them, looking at the clock that was showing 1 am, "if something happens tomorrow we can't all be asleep on the job."

Roy and Diggle nodded and slipped out the foundry with a sympathetic look at her. They understood how hard it was for her to see him like this. How much it hurt that despite her being right next to him, he was a world away, alone in his pain.

She turned her attention back to him and racked her brain for something that would snap him out of this. She remembered something her mother would do when she was younger and had nightmares.

"_Always remember Felicity, the nightmares aren't real. What is real is that you have 10 toes painted pink. Your favorite flavor of ice cream is mint chocolate chip. You're the smartest 10 year old in the whole state of Nevada. And I love you."_

Replace the fear with what's real. That worked when she was 10 and had nightmares, but what was running through Oliver's mind was real. His reality. But not his present reality. What was real right now was…

"Oliver look at me."

"You're Oliver Queen. You're a brother. You are a friend. You're a mentor. "

He gave her a confused look before his eyes went wild again but she continued on.

"You're smart and brave and kind. You drink your coffee black and as much as I complain I really don't mind bringing you a cup. You give the best hugs. You do the salmon ladder every Wednesday and pretend you don't notice me staring. You never forget to water the fern. Your smile lights up an entire room and I would give anything to see it more."

She could hear his breath stabilizing and his eyes were focused on hers now.

"What's real right now is that you're home. You're alive. You're a hero."

She put her hand on his heart and whispered,

"What's real is that I love you."

His heart was still beating fast but she had a feeling it wasn't a side effect from the Lazarus pit because her heart rate started to soar too when he pulled her onto his lap and pressed his lips to hers softly.

"Thank you," he murmured, "for reminding me of my happy story."

_Every time he went to that place of total darkness she would repeat her words, restoring his light, reminding him what was real. After a while, the episodes became less frequent. One night, curled up by his side, their hands intertwined, she realized it had been a year. The nightmares might have been real, but what was real now, his happy story, kept them from haunting him anymore._

**Thanks so much for reading! Be sure to leave me a review letting me know what you thought and also if you have any prompts for future one shots. I'd definitely like to keep writing to keep myself busy during the hiatus :)**


	3. Third Time's a Charm

**Three Times Felicity rode on Oliver's Motorcycle...**

"I'm going to die!" Felicity screamed as they sharply rounded a corner, Oliver's motorcycle tilting precariously.

"Just hold on tight, you'll be fine," Oliver replied as he continued to swerve at high speed through the city streets.

"Duck Felicity!" She heard Thea yell as she shot an arrow from the back of Roy's bike. She dipped her head right before it skimmed over her and hit the arm of the man driving the van that was pursuing them. Felicity's eyes widened and she pressed her face into Oliver's back silently begging for this nightmare ride to be over quickly. She had imagined riding on the back of Oliver's bike and this was nothing like she had pictured. She had ridden out to the site where they needed her to get past the complicated security set up with Diggle in the van but they had gotten separated after arriving. Oliver didn't want to leave her when they set off in pursuit. And that's how she found herself holding on to Oliver so tightly she was sure she was crushing his diaphragm. She felt them stop and looked up but they were nowhere near the foundry.

"That guy they sent after us drove us around in circles. How are we going to get back on bad guy number one's trail?" Roy asked.

"Felicity, you pinged his phone right?" Oliver asked and she nodded. He revved the engine and they started to back out of the alley they had pulled into, "I'm going to need you to see if you can get a hit on him and track him."

"Ok well normally that would be no problem but since hanging on for my life kinda requires two hands and so does holding onto my tablet that could be a little difficult…."

"What's the turn?" Oliver called out.

"and I see that you are no longer paying attention to me so I'm just going to hope that when I fall off I will not land somewhere where a car will run me over…"

"Felicity!"

She took a deep breath and used every bit of strength in her legs to anchor her to the bike while she pulled out her tablet.

"Right. Okay now left. Keep going straight."

There a close call where she started to lean a little too far to one side but Oliver threw an arm back to push her back on. Finally they overtook the man and delivered him quickly to Captain Lance.

Back at the foundry, Oliver helped her off and straightened her glasses.

"Nice job," he complimented her and she took what felt like her first real breath all night before following him towards the door.

"Kind of fun actually, right?" He turned to ask her.

She shot him a look that she hoped communicated how NOT fun she had thought it was.

"Fine. But I'll take you out on it sometime when we're not being shot at or going against the flow of traffic and then you'll have fun," he replied with a wink.

She just rolled her eyes and let him take her hand as they walked down the foundry stairs.

_3 Days Later…_

Felicity sighed as the sound of gun shots shattered the silence. She threw her leg over the bike and grabbed the helmet from Oliver's outstretched hand.

"Sorry," he shot her a sympathetic look over his shoulder as she grabbed his waist and braced herself for another wild ride.

_The Next Day…_

She had just gotten home from work when there was a knock. Felicity opened the door to a smiling Oliver.

"I promised you a fun, reasonably safe, ride on the bike."

She quickly changed out of her dress and followed him to the curb. The warm wind blew softly against her face and a smile crept onto her face as they drove out of the city. She rested her cheek onto Oliver's back and sighed happily as she watched the scenery fly by. This was exactly what she had in mind when she imagined her first ride on the motorcycle.

On the way back into the city they stopped at an ice cream parlor and as they dove into a mint chip sundae Oliver asked what she thought.

"You were right. When you're actually going for a nice ride like a normal person it's pretty fun."

"Told you."

**Thanks for reading! I hope you liked it. Also a big thank you to those who left reviews on my previous chapters, your kind words are very much appreciated :)**


	4. Emergency Contact

**Emergency Contact...**

Oliver's phone displayed an unknown number. He picked it up to be greeted by one of his least favorite voices.

"Umm Oliver, this is Ray Palmer. This is kind of awkward but I wasn't sure who else to call. Felicity isn't at work yet which is really unusual, actually not really she just kind of comes and goes at really random times, but anyway she hasn't answered like any of my 20 phone calls and I would go to her apartment because I pinged her phone and she should be there but I'm pretty sure if I go there one more time uninvited I might get a restraining order so yeah."

"What exactly are you asking?"

"Can you go check on her? We have a staff meeting today and it's kind of important and maybe we could video call her in or something."

Oliver replied curtly that he would before hanging up and grabbing his coat.

He got to Felicity's apartment quickly and let himself in with the key she kept in the foundry for emergencies.

"Felicity?" he called out.

He heard her mumble something inaudible from her bedroom and walked over to the door. He knocked and after confirming who it was she told him to come in. Felicity sat propped up with several pillows, her quilt pulled up to her chin, her nose and eyes were red, and there were tissues scattered everywhere. She coughed and asked him what he was doing here.

"I got a call from Palmer, you're missing out on a staff meeting which – wait, how does he know my number anyway?"

"He probably hacked into my phone contacts, no wait, actually he didn't have to go to that much trouble. I think you're listed as my emergency contact number on this paperwork all the employees had to fill out."

"What?"

"Well it's just a formality for insurance or something because it's not like I'm likely to get injured on the job or anything, but who else was I going to put anyway? It's not like my Mommy can come pick me up from work if I get the flu."

Oliver smiled and moved closer to the bed.

"I'm not sure you want to come any closer. This is not something you want to have."

"I have a strong immune system, besides someone's got to take care of you."

Felicity's phone started to ring. She pointed to a spot on the floor where she had thrown it after Ray's 6th call.

"Can you just answer that and tell him I'm not coming in. If I answer he'll probably launch into some long spiel about our latest project and I'm not in the mood for that."

After speaking with Ray, Oliver turned his attention back to her. He pressed his lips to her forehead and diagnosed that she had a fever.

"You are such a mom," Felicity teased him.

Oliver rolled his eyes and headed into the kitchen to get her a glass of water and some cold medicine. When he came back she had thrown off all her blankets and was lying there in—

"Is that my shirt?"

"I may have stolen it from you when you were dead. Huh. That's a weird sentence. You can have it back if you want."

"You can keep it," Oliver replied, fighting back a smile at the thought that she had wanted some piece of him when he was gone.

"And now I'm cold again," Felicity sighed and grabbed all the blankets, "You're right, I definitely have a fever."

Oliver handed her the water and medicine and sat down on the end of the bed to rub her feet.

"Mmm that's nice. See, I knew it was a good idea to put you down as my emergency contact."

"You know you could have just called me."

"Yeah, but I threw my phone across the room and I didn't have the energy to go get it."

Oliver laughed and shook his head. After a few minutes he noticed that she had drifted off to sleep and was shivering. Slipping off his shoes, he slid into bed and surrounded her in his arms. Her body relaxed and warmth started to spread across her skin.

The sound of Felicity coughing jolted Oliver awake and it took him a few seconds to remember where he was. He glanced over at the clock and saw that it was well into the afternoon. He wasn't sure if Felicity would feel awkward waking up like this but she didn't make any move to detangle herself from him.

"I guess I needed a nap too," he remarked.

"It was nice, I feel a little better now actually. Thank you. For staying and taking care of me today."

"Felicity, there's no one else I'd rather spend the day with. Even if you are coughing and sniffling all over me."

"Hey! You said you have a strong immune system. It's not going to be good if we're both sick."

"Maybe I should have an emergency contact too. I wonder how Roy feels about germs? "

"Maybe you should just wait until I'm better to get sick and then I'll take care of you."

"Deal."

**Thanks for reading! I hope you liked it :)**


	5. Chocolate Cake

_**Chocolate Cake...**_

Oliver and Roy entered the apartment and heard the sound of laughter coming from the kitchen.

"Oh shoot, they're back early!" Thea's voice trailed out into the hallway.

They walked in on Thea and Felicity covered in flour, the kitchen a total mess.

"Roy, didn't you get my text that we needed you to stall some more?"

"Yeah baking is harder than we thought, we probably should have just gone with a box mix," Felicity chimed in.

Roy shrugged his shoulders and pulled out his phone, "Now I did."

"What are you guys baking? Or umm, trying to bake?" Oliver asked.

"A birthday cake for you of course. Did you think we both forgot?" Thea replied.

Oliver had thought they had forgotten, but he didn't blame them. The Arrow had been busy lately and his birthday had been one of the last things on his mind. He couldn't help but smile though at the sight of his two favorite girls trying to put together a surprise for him.

"Thank you. Have you accomplished anything other than making a giant mess though?"

The two girls looked at each other and back at him, "Not really," they said in unison.

Oliver joined them on the other side of the counter and assessed the situation, "We should probably just start over."

"We? First of all, you can't make your own birthday cake. And second of all, how do you know how to bake?" Thea asked.

"First of all, I'm not going to make my own birthday cake, I'm going to help you two whip up something that's actually edible. And secondly, you should know I'm good at everything," he replied with a wink.

He turned to Felicity and gently brushed the flour off her shoulders and nose, "How did you manage to get flour all over yourself anyway?"

"She started it," Felicity replied with a pout.

"Oh no, do not fall for those puppy eyes. She definitely threw the first handful," Thea protested.

Oliver laughed and the four of them set to cleaning up the kitchen. Once the counters were wiped and the ingredients were reorganized; Oliver set them to measuring sugar and flour, cracking eggs, and whisking up frosting.

After Thea had placed the cake in the oven and the kitchen was cleaned up again, the doorbell rang and Diggle and Lyla walked in with Sara.

"Oooh something smells good," Lyla commented.

"Yeah well apparently Oliver should add master baker to his resume," Felicity said as she walked over to take Sara into her arms.

"Where did you learn how to bake man?" Diggle asked.

"Russia." Oliver deadpanned and they all turned to look at him with varying shades of confusion on their faces.

"It's a long story," he said with a shrug.

After pulling the cake out of the oven, they all walked into the living room and sat passing Sara around and listening to Thea tell stories about some of Oliver's wild childhood birthday parties.

"This must be a bit of a letdown compared to the year your parents set up an entire zoo in the backyard and launched fireworks off of your cake," Felicity teased.

"Not really. It's the people who make your birthday the most special and I can't think of anyone I'd rather be spending it with then all of you. Although I will say the fireworks were pretty cool."

Felicity smiled at him and reached for his hand. Oliver pulled her up off the couch, "Come on, the cake is probably cool enough to frost now. We'll be back in a minute."

Oliver stood behind her and guided her arm as she swirled the frosting around the cake. He snuck a kiss on her cheek and she complained that he was being too distracting. Finally the cake was completely covered and she handed him the spatula, "Birthday boy gets to lick the spatula first."

After they had licked the spatula clean he pulled her in close for a kiss that was chocolately sweet.

"Best birthday ever."

"Even without fireworks?"

"Even without fireworks."

"We should probably take the cake out."

"Probably."

"They totally know we're in here kissing."

"Yep."

_**(Ok so in my mind, some little Russian Grandma totally taught Oliver how to bake during his Bratva days. Just go with it :))**_

**Thanks for reading!**


	6. Love Him Now

_**Love Him Now...**_

**(Set after the team learns that Oliver is dead, I'd really like them to have a moment between Thea and Felicity so I wrote my own :))**

Felicity didn't quite know how she ended up there, but knocking on the door she felt it was the best place to be. Thea opened the door, tear tracks on her face, eyes red and puffy. Felicity pulled the younger girl into her arms and they stood there for a few minutes.

"Do you mind if I stay here tonight? I don't want to be alone," Felicity asked.

Thea nodded and led her into the loft. They sat on the couch in silence for awhile, lost in their own thoughts. They didn't know each other very well, maybe things would have been different with more time, but their shared grief connected them.

"You know, I thought it would be easier this time. But it's not. And knowing that it's my fault-"

"Thea it's not your fault. Please don't blame yourself."

"I trusted Malcolm. Oliver told me over and over again not to and I didn't listen to him. I lost the last person who loved me selflessly because I was delusional enough to believe that I was more than just a tool to my psycho father."

Thea broke down crying again and Felicity's heart broke for her. She felt the loss of Oliver like a chasm in her heart but she knew that what Thea was feeling was even worse. Guilt on top of her grief.

"Thea, I have no doubt that in his final moments Oliver did not regret what he has done for you. He told me before he left that there was two things he was sure of in this world and one of them was that he would do anything for you."

"What was the second thing?"

Felicity looked down at her hands sadly and whispered, "That he loves me. I didn't get a chance to say it back. I never will have a chance."

"Felicity I'm so sorry."

"You know I keep holding onto this hope that he'll come back. Why should we trust Nyssa? It wouldn't be the first time someone we thought was dead- wasn't. But then there's the part of my heart that feels missing and it's like I just know that it's because he really is gone."

They sat in silence except for the occasional sniffle as they cried. Cried for everything Oliver meant to them. Cried for the words that were never spoken. Cried for the quiet dreams that would never come true.

"I think I'm going to try and get some sleep now. You can stay in his room if you want."

Felicity wasn't sure if she could handle it but her tiredness won out and she slowly walked towards the door that led into his bedroom. Taking a deep breath she turned the handle and walked inside. It was exactly how she would expect it to be. As neat and ordered as he kept his things in the foundry. She walked over to his dresser and looked at the four pictures sitting on top. There was an old Christmas photo of the happy and smiling Queen family before everything that fractured them apart. She smiled at a picture of a young Oliver holding baby Thea. She could tell by the look on his face that she was already his world from the day she was born. The third picture was of the whole team surrounding Lyla and Sara shortly after her birth. She remembered that day. Things were still awkward after she had walked away from him in the hospital and then again in the foundry. Even though she knew it was right for her to walk away, to make him fight for her, she wished for a second now that she hadn't. It was the fourth picture that shocked her. She didn't realize it had been taken. She was sitting at her computer in the foundry smiling. Laughing. He had made her cry so many times but she knew he didn't want to. He kept this picture of her because all he ever wanted was to see her smile. To hear her laugh. But he was gone and right now she didn't think she would laugh for a long time.

She opened a drawer in his dresser and pulled out one of his t shirts. It smelled like the laundry detergent she kept stocked at the foundry. She thought about the list on her fridge of things she bought for the foundry and wondered if she'd ever make that shopping trip again. Of course she would. The city still needed them. Things would have to go on, crime would still need to be stopped, laundry detergent and bandages still bought.

Slipping out of her dress she pulled on the shirt and walked over to his desk. It was bare except for a small silver wrapped box that had her name written on top. She grabbed it without hesitation and carefully unwrapped it. There was a piece of paper on top that simply read "_Happy Birthday Felicity_." She felt a surge of disappointment that there wasn't more but quickly realized that he probably thought he would get to give it to her himself and there would be no need to write any words. Under the paper there was a delicate chain with an arrow pendant that she could tell he had made. She traced over the detailed design and couldn't help the small smile that twisted her lips. Very subtle Oliver. It was beautiful and as she fastened it around her neck more tears fell at the thought of him spending time working on it. Wanting to put it on her himself. Her birthday was in a week, he had just missed it.

She circled around his room again but for once being a billionaire and having so much, there were very few things. What he did have revealed that it was people he valued most. It truly was fitting that he was able to die for what was most important to him, but she still wished with all her heart for one more day. One more hour with him. She yawned and looked at the clock which read 2 am. The last 24 hours had taken so much out of her and it was a relief to finally slip under the covers of his bed. The pillows and sheets still smelled faintly of him, clean and woodsy, and she couldn't help herself from wanting to breathe in every last bit. She didn't have any tears left. She had cried every last one. She buried her head in the pillow and fell asleep.

When she woke up the next morning it took her a moment to register where she was. She looked down at the shirt she was wearing and imagined for a second that Oliver would walk through the door, kiss her, and tell her that breakfast was ready. Then reality crashed in on her. For as sad as she was last night she knew that she needed to be strong now. She would honor Oliver in the best way that she could by continuing to help protect his city. By caring for the people that relied on him. That was how she could love him now.

**Thank you so much for reading and for all your kind reviews! If you have any prompts for future stories I'd love to hear them :)**


	7. A Pretty Specific Type

_**A Pretty Specific** **Type...**_

**(So this is set like post season 3 when Oliver has his company back and Felicity and him, well you'll see ;))**

Felicity was uncomfortable. It had nothing to do with the fact that she was sitting on the toilet. Or that the shoes she borrowed from Thea were a little too small and were pinching her toes.

The sound of more heels clattering into the bathroom kept her glued to her seat.

"Allison, did you see who's here?"

"Omg we were just talking about him. Oliver Queen, still looking as fine as ever.

Yep. That's why Felicity was uncomfortable. In the approximately 3 minutes that she had been sitting in the stall she had heard some wild and ummm detailed accounts of Oliver's activities during his college days. Particularly those involving the 3 girls currently huddled around the mirror. Oh and now the girl who had just entered and was clearly interested in adding her own Oliver story to the mix. Felicity cringed slightly as she listened to a sophomore year ski trip being reminisced. It's not like she wasn't aware the Oliver had slept with half the girls in Starling but she didn't really want this many details. Her phone vibrated and she looked down to see that Oliver was wondering if she had abandoned him. She realized she was going to have to leave this stall eventually and since the women were still chatting away she was just going to have to make a quick exit to avoid what would most likely be an awkward encounter if they had seen her sharing a table with Oliver. She had her hand on the door to the stall but retracted it quickly when the tone of conversation changed.

"Did you see he was with someone?"

"Ugh yes. I mean I guess she's pretty enough but who even is she? Now that Oliver's got his company back again he should totally be going for girls that are like, in his social class. If I don't know her obviously she isn't. Really he's missing out by not calling me up. I would totally go for an Aspen round 2."

"Oh please, don't act like you were so important to him. He probably said the same things to all of us. Oliver was the guy you had a fun time with and then he forgot about you. I almost feel bad for the new girl."

"Whatever. But there was definitely something between us."

Felicity was squeezing her hands so tightly into fists she was surprised she hadn't drawn blood with her fingernails yet. Finally the sound of heels clattering faded away and she was alone. She quickly opened the stall door and bolted out of the bathroom. She made her way across the restaurant as gracefully as possible and awkwardly sat down across from Oliver. He covered her hand in his and looked at her with concern.

"Are you okay?"

She nodded but couldn't meet his eyes. She didn't know why she was so upset. The man who sat across from her wasn't the Oliver those girls remembered. She knew that he loved her. It was just that hearing those things tapped into the insecurities she had worked so long to bury. She still found it hard to believe sometimes that Oliver Queen wanted her. The girl who didn't grow up in the lap of luxury. The girl who didn't go to the private boarding schools and colleges. The girl who was an awkward, babbling, nerd. The girl who wasn't some gorgeous, leggy model type. The girl who—

"Felicity?"

But then she heard the way he said her name and when she dragged her eyes up to meet his and saw the way he looked at her she pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind.

"Yeah I'm alright, sorry. I got a little held up by some… friends of yours. That's all."

Oliver looked at her with a confused expression but he shook it off and replaced it with a smile, "Hey so I need to take a business trip out to Aspen and obviously I'll need my VP there as well but I was thinking we could maybe also invite Roy, Thea, Diggle, Lyla, and Sara and maybe make a little "family" vacation out of it as well. Or it could just be you and me… whatever you want to do."

The look on Oliver's face made it pretty clear which option he would prefer and Felicity blushed as she recalled what she had overheard in the bathroom.

"Aspen."

"Yeah my family has a chalet there and I just learned that somehow we managed to retain it even with everything that went down with the company and everything."

"Aspen."

"Yes Felicity, Aspen—"

"Heeyy Oliver." Felicity groaned at the sound of leggy model numero quatro approaching their table.

Oliver's eyes widened and he looked at her, "Oh. Aspen."

He turned towards the approaching girl, "Hi, Kari? It's Kari right?"

"Yeah, I can't believe you remember me, long time no see right?"

"Well I was a castaway for a few years so I wasn't doing much socializing."

Felicity felt her body tense up as Kari laughed obnoxiously and put a hand on Oliver's shoulder, "Glad to see you're still the same funny Oliver."

"Kari this is my Vice President of Queen Consolidated, Felicity."

Felicity didn't know why she wanted Oliver to introduce her as his girlfriend. I mean she was, at least she was pretty sure she was. She was his girlfriend right?

Kari turned to her with a fake smile, "It's nice to meet you Felicity."

"Nice to meet you too." Not.

"Well I'll leave you two to your business meeting. Oliver, feel free to call me up sometime. I would love to catch up."

Felicity watched her retreat back to her table and felt her body relax again. Their food finally came and she turned her attention towards eating to avoid discussing what just happened. She could feel Oliver looking at her but she couldn't bring herself to look up at him. One minute he was inviting her to Aspen, and thanks to Kari she was well aware of what could happen in Aspen, and the next minute he was introducing her as nothing more than his business partner.

They finished their dinner in silence and had an equally awkward car ride back to her apartment. He walked her up to her door but blocked her from entering.

"Felicity, please tell me what's wrong. Is this about Kari? Because I can tell you right now that I'm honestly surprised I even remembered her name and I have no intention of catching up with her ever and—"

"You didn't introduce me as your girlfriend."

"What?"

"You said I was your VP."

"Oh. I figured the rest was implied by the fact that I was holding your hand and you're wearing that dress which isn't exactly a business meeting dress."

"Yeah I'm going to say she didn't pick up on that but it's okay, really. I don't even know why I'm upset. I guess it's just seeing girls like that, girls you used to have a thing with, reminds me that I'm not exactly your usual type and—"

"My type? Felicity, whatever my type was when I was the Oliver I was before the island I can say that I have a pretty specific type now. So unless you know any other Felicity Megan Smoaks, I wouldn't worry about anyone else. You're beautiful and brilliant and quite frankly better than I deserve."

Felicity looked up at him with a smile and realized that at some point he had opened her door and had slowly pulled her into her apartment.

"So… you never answered my question about Aspen."

"Well based on what I've heard can happen in Aspen, I don't really think it would be a good idea to have so many people there…"

Oliver pulled her closer and kissed her on the forehead, "Mmmm I agree."

She tipped her head back and he kissed her again on the lips. He started to slip her dress off of her shoulder but she reached a hand up to stop him.

"One last question. Is it true that there's a jacuzzi tub the size of a small pool in a room with giant windows that overlook the ski slopes?"

Oliver laughed and picked her up to carry her towards her bedroom, "Size of a small pool might be a bit of an exaggeration, but yes."

**Thanks for reading! I hope you like it :)**


	8. You're Not My Cousin, Right?

**Felicity has an appendectomy and the anesthesia leaves her a little confused and unfiltered :)**

It was Wednesday afternoon and Oliver was doing his weekly turn on the salmon ladder when Felicity appeared underneath him.

"Oliver, I think I'm going to go home, I'm really not feeling well."

Oliver dropped down and put a hand on her bare shoulder which was covered in goose bumps, "What's wrong?"

"My stomach was feeling a little achy when I woke up and it's gotten progressively worse as the day's gone on. It's like a stabbing pain now."

Oliver remembered Thea's appendicitis symptoms from when she was younger and wondered it that might be what was wrong. He gently placed a hand on the lower right of her abdomen and asked if that was where the pain was worst.

She nodded and tears started to well up in her eyes, "It really hurts."

"Felicity I think we should take you to the hospital, you might have appendicitis."

"Oh no. That involves needles and slicing me open."

"Yes, but you'll be under anesthesia so you won't even know it's happening. And it might not be appendicitis, but I don't want to take any chances. Come on I'll drive you."

Oliver started walking towards the foundry stairs and Felicity called after him, "Umm Oliver, you might want to put a shirt on."

Oliver looked down and turned to her with a sheepish grin. She tried to laugh but it came out as a grimace as she tossed him his discarded t shirt. He pulled on his shirt and then scooped her up bridal style despite her protests that she could walk to the van just fine.

When they arrived at the hospital Felicity described her symptoms and was whisked to be checked by a doctor. The doctor confirmed Oliver's suspicions and scheduled Felicity for an appendectomy within the hour. They went to sit in the waiting room until she would be called back to the room for her operation. Oliver could tell that Felicity was nervous on top of the pain that she was feeling and did his best to comfort her. She rested her head on his shoulder and he rubbed circles on her hand with his thumb.

"The last time I was under anesthesia was when I got my wisdom teeth taken out and when I came out of it my mom said I was really mean so I'm just giving you a fair warning."

"Ok, I'll try not to take it too personally if you insult me under the influence."

Felicity smiled up at him but it quickly faded when the nurse walked out and called her name.

"I feel like such a baby for getting nervous about this, like I've taken bullets and jumped out of airplanes and faced mirikuru soldiers and –"

"Exactly, which is why this is going to be a piece of cake for you."

The nurse had her change into a hospital gown and settled her onto the operating table while Oliver waited in the hallway.

The nurse stepped out, "She'd like you to be with her when they do the IV."

Oliver followed the nurse in and walked over to Felicity's side. Seeing her there brought forward a flurry of thoughts, bad and good. Her lying in a hospital bed seriously injured because he couldn't protect her. Her lying in a hospital bed delivering their first child. Her lying in a hospital bed-

"Hold my hand," Felicity broke through his train of thought and brought him back to reality. He covered her hand with his and she closed her eyes as the nurse put in the IV.

"Wow yeah that was not as bad as I thought I was going to be, I guess taking some bullets does make you tougher."

Oliver looked up at the nurse whose eyes had widened, but thankfully she refrained from asking questions. Oliver felt Felicity's hand go limp under his and the nurse announced that the anesthesia had taken full effect and someone would retrieve him when she was out of surgery.

After what felt like an eternity of sitting in the waiting room, the nurse came and directed him back to Felicity's recovery room. When they arrived she was just starting to wake up.

She looked over at Oliver and he started walking towards her.

"Who are you?" she asked. He looked at the nurse with panic.

"Don't worry she's just disoriented, she doesn't have memory loss," the nurse reassured him with a laugh.

"You're really hot. Can I touch you?" Oliver turned back to Felicity and couldn't help a grin from creeping onto his face.

"That was an inappropriate thing to say wasn't it? I feel like I know you. You're not my cousin or something though right? Because that would be really weird since I just tried to flirt with you."

"No Felicity, I'm not your cousin. I'm your… friend."

Felicity raised an eyebrow at him, "Do you want to be more than friends? 'Cause I would totally be down for that."

Oliver heard the nurse laugh as she stood in the corner writing something on a clipboard.

"Wait, am I in a hospital? Why are we on a date at the hospital?"

"Felicity, you had appendicitis and you just had an appendectomy."

"Is that a kind of drink? I feel really drunk."

"No you're not drunk; you're just coming out of anesthesia."

"Oh. I don't know what that is. You have really nice muscles. I can see them even with your shirt on. You should take it off. But not here. That would be weird."

Oliver had no idea how to respond to her. He had prepared for her to be grumpy not confused and well, unfiltered. He couldn't help but be amused and wondered how much of this interaction she would remember. The doctor came back into the room and explained to Oliver how she would have to stay in bed for 12 hours and then she could slowly return to normal activity as long as she didn't experience any more pain.

Oliver and the nurse wheeled her out to the van in a wheelchair and settled her into one of the reclined seats. He decided to take her back to the loft and Thea met them at the door.

"Who's this?" Felicity looked up at him with a jealous look on her face.

"This is my sister," Oliver answered her.

"Oh. That's good. It's not very nice to cheat on a girl even though we've only had one date and it was at a hospital."

Thea snorted and helped Oliver get Felicity settled into the guest bedroom.

"G'night hottie," Felicity slurred before falling asleep.

"Do you think she'll remember any of this?" Thea asked.

"If she does I guarantee she'll deny it," Oliver replied with a smile.

**Thank you for reading!**


	9. Ice Cream and Doritos

_**Ice Cream and Doritos...**_

**(This one's pretty short because I've been busy with stuff for the holidays but it's super fluffy and kinda cheesy, enjoy :))**

"Thanks Dig, you're the best!" Felicity exclaimed as she took the Big Belly Burger bag from his hands.

"Don't let Oliver hear you say that," Diggle joked.

"Hear you say what?" Oliver asked as he walked down the foundry stairs.

"Nothing," Felicity said with a smile.

Oliver looked at the bag in her hands, "I could have gotten that for you."

"I know, but Diggle asked if I was hungry and offered to pick something up on his way back."

Diggle put a hand on Oliver's shoulder, "Advice of the day, something I learned with Lyla, it never hurts to offer to get the pregnant woman some food... and especially when she's been stuck in a basement all night helping you on a mission in your case."

Oliver apologized to Felicity but she brushed it off. "It's alright Oliver, if I was truly starving I would have asked and you would have brought me whatever I wanted. I know that. Want some fries?"

After Oliver had changed out of his suit he walked over to where Felicity was waiting to head home.

"How are you feeling? I'm sorry you had to be up almost all night and it's getting close to the due date and-"

"Oliver I'm feeling perfectly fine, just a little tired. And the baby isn't due for 2 more weeks, you worry too much."

"It's only because I love you."

"I know," Felicity replied, "I love you too, and I don't mind staying up and helping you track down bad guys, even though most pregnant women at my stage in the game would be sitting at home watching House Hunters and eating ice cream and Doritos, and-"

Oliver interrupted her babbling and gave her a kiss that turned into another kiss that-

"Okay we know you two made a baby we don't need a reenactment," Roy announced from across the foundry. Oliver rolled his eyes and Felicity laughed. Oliver placed his hands on Felicity's bump and she laid her hands on top of his. As excited as he was for the birth of their baby there was always going to be that part of him that worried that he shouldn't have this. Shouldn't have the woman who was standing before him as his wife. Shouldn't have the responsibility of being a father. That his commitment to his city made him inadequate to be the man who had all this. But then he looked into her eyes and knew there was no way he couldn't have this.

"Ready to go home?"

Felicity nodded and they walked out of the foundry hand in hand.

The next evening Oliver announced that Roy and Diggle had everything covered and they wouldn't be heading to the foundry.

"Oh? And what will we be doing with the night off?"

Oliver sent her into their bedroom to change into her pajamas and followed soon after with... mint chip ice cream and Doritos. "You are getting a night off so that you can indulge your normal pregnant women fantasies."

"That's a really weird way of wording that, but I appreciate it. You're going to join me though right?"

Oliver pulled out two spoons, "Of course."

Felicity flipped on the TV and they settled into their snacks while watching a couple try to find a vacation home in Jamaica.

"They're definitely going to go with house number 2," Oliver commented.

"What? No, that was the one that had the really awful tile everywhere. They're definitely going for house number 1."

"How much do you want to bet they're going to pick 2?"

"Nothing, because they're going to pick 1."

The couple picked house 3 and Felicity and Oliver both yelled at the tv because they at least agreed that 3 was ugly and in a horrible location. After a few more episodes of House Hunters, the bottom of the ice cream had been hit and the Doritos bag long discarded. Oliver sat up and hovered over Felicity. Slowly, he started to unbutton her pajama top from the bottom. When he had undone enough of the buttons to reveal her belly he ran a trail of kisses along it.

Felicity watched him and asked, "What do you think? Boy or girl?"

Oliver looked up at her, "Definitely a girl."

"Really? Because I was thinking a boy... Thankfully though, both options are good, unlike the house with the ugly tile."

"You know I really didn't think that tile was ugly."

"Seriously Oliver? It was horrendous."

"Okay maybe it was a little weird," Oliver conceded.

"Yes it was, but enough about tile. You still have a couple buttons to go there Mr. Queen."

**Thanks for reading!**


	10. Hands

She notices he's nervous. He's rubbing his fingers the way he always does. She reaches for his hand. Makes circles with her thumb. Reassures him.

* * *

><p>He hadn't noticed until now that she had picked up his nervous habit. Sitting at her computer, her fingers rubbed together as they wait for word. He covers her hand with his. Reassures her.<p>

* * *

><p>She gently traces with her fingers the fine stitches she just finished. Cleans the last traces of blood. He smiles at her. Tells her she's much better at it than him. She knows. She's memorized every scar with her fingers. Knows the difference between her stitches and his.<p>

* * *

><p>He cleans the blood off her hands. It takes him back to when Shado had done the same for him. But she wasn't guilty of anything. It had been an exhausting night. She had had Caitlin on speaker phone. Done everything she could to save the girl who had been lying on the street. An innocent caught in the crossfire of a gang fight before the team could arrive on the scene. The water runs clear again and he reminds her that it wasn't her fault.<p>

* * *

><p>He sees her eyeing the bow one day. He goes to pick it up and brings it to her. Directs her towards one of the practice targets. Wraps his hands around hers. Guides her as she pulls back on the string. Hands acting as one as he helps her aim. Repeats softly in her ear the mantra that he was taught. Breathe. Release. The arrow finds its mark and he squeezes her hand gently as she looks up to him with a smile.<p>

* * *

><p>The morning sun streams through the windows. She wakes before him. His arm is draped over her and she reaches for his hand. Places soft kisses on the calluses that run along his fingers and down his palms.<p>

* * *

><p>He slides the ring on her finger. Her eyes sparkle a million times brighter than the diamond.<p>

* * *

><p>They stand hand in hand. Echoing promises of forever. Surrounded by those that have become their family, but in that moment it's just the two of them.<p>

**Super short I know but I've been super busy with the holidays, I promise the next update will be a long one :)**


	11. Definitely As Good As I Imagined

_**Definitely as Good as I Imagined...**_

_So I've been writing and rewriting this for the past couple of days because I feel like some parts are out of character and don't flow correctly but I'm not really sure how to fix it so I'm just going to post it as is. Some random snippets of things I'd like to see happen between Oliver and Felicity at Digg and Lyla's wedding :)_

Oliver scanned across the room and spotted Felicity holding Sara and chatting with Caitlin. Things had finally gotten back to – well normal between them. As normal as things could be when you finally tell someone you love them, then you die, but then come back to life, okay yeah not normal. But things we're better. They had returned to some of their old rhythms. Touching her shoulder when he talked to her. Sharing fries at Big Belly Burger. Their looks that communicated a million words. And this wedding, well he wasn't sure how she was feeling, but it certainly made him hope to see her walking down the aisle towards him someday soon.

"You know, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that there is a pretty good chance that she'll dance with you if you ask," Oliver heard Barry say from behind him.

"What?" Oliver asked, turning around.

"Oliver, with the way you've been looking at her since the rehearsal dinner last night I thought we were going to have a double wedding. Which by the way kind of violates your whole "guys like us don't get the girl" mantra but I think that's stupid anyway so go get your girl."

"I'm not much of a dancer," Oliver protested.

"You're making excuses, now go," Barry practically pushed Oliver across the room towards Felicity.

Felicity looked up at him and smiled as he approached, "Hey what's up?"

"Umm do you want to dance? I mean you don't have to if you're busy talking to Caitlin and you're in charge of watching Sara and—"

"Oliver stop babbling. And yes, I'd love to dance with you."

Caitlin took Sara and Felicity accepted Oliver's outstretched hand. Oliver led her out onto the dance floor where Diggle and Lyla and a few other couples were already circling around to the music.

"I'm not a very good dancer," Oliver warned her.

"Ehh neither am I, I just sway."

"Sway I can do," Oliver wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close to him. She wrapped her arms around him and rested her head on his shoulder. He caught a glimpse of Barry who winked at him and he just rolled his eyes.

* * *

><p>Diggle and Lyla announced that it was time to throw the bouquet and garter. Oliver watched as Felicity joined the small group of women all huddled together to try and catch Lyla's flowers. Roy said his name just as Lyla threw the bouquet and he turned to respond to him. When he turned back he saw that Felicity was holding the bouquet and grinning from ear to ear. She shuffled past him and whispered, "I almost had to body check one of Lyla's cousins for this, don't fail me Oliver."<p>

"Like anyone else is even going to try and catch that garter. I'm pretty sure feeling up Felicity's leg is not enough incentive to get on your bad side." Roy spoke up from behind them.

Oliver glared at him and Felicity's cheeks turned pink.

Roy raised his eyebrows, "Just saying."

Sure enough, when the garter flew through the air all the other men just took a step back and let Oliver catch it without competition. Diggle pulled a chair to the center of the dance floor and led Felicity to it. She took a seat and the blush on her face started to deepen as Oliver kneeled in front of her and carefully removed her one shoe. He gently slid the garter over her foot and up to her ankle. He took a deep breath and tried to calm his racing heart as his hands slid up her leg and underneath her dress. He quickly removed his hands as someone whistled and helped her up from the chair.

"Yeah that was just about as awkward as I thought it would be," Felicity commented.

"Don't forget that you almost took a girl out for that bouquet. You got yourself into that on purpose." Oliver replied.

"I saw an opportunity and I took it. Your hands, my leg, definitely as good as I imagined. I mean besides the fact that there was like 50 people watching, which is why it was kind of awkward…"

Oliver turned to look at her.

"Did I just say that aloud?"

"Yep."

Felicity cringed, "I should probably cut myself off from the champagne."

She started to walk away from him but he grabbed her arm and pulled her back to him.

"Hey. Your leg, my hands, definitely as good as I imagined."

Felicity blushed again and dipped her head.

"But… I think we can do better. You know, when there isn't 50 people watching."

Felicity looked up at him with wide eyes and the corners of her mouth twitched up.

* * *

><p>Oliver was standing on the patio of the hotel after most of the guests had left.<p>

"Hey. I wondered where you went. Thought you might have sneaked off with one of Lyla's cousins," Felicity joked.

Oliver turned to her, "Felicity."

"I was totally joking, I didn't really think that—"

Oliver stepped towards her and ran his hands down her arms, "Good. Because I would hope by now you would know that there's no other girl for me but you."

Felicity looked up at him, "I do. But it's nice to be reminded every once in a while. Especially since you aren't exactly a professional at expressing your feelings."

"Hey I'm getting better at it."

"Yes, yes you are. So what are your feelings about sneaking out of here with me? I mean technically the reception is over so it wouldn't really be sneaking out but you know what I mean and -"

Oliver interrupted her by pulling her in for a kiss, "I've been wanting to sneak out of here with you all evening."

* * *

><p>Oliver woke the next morning with a smile on his face.<p>

Felicity rolled over to face him, "You were right. Waaayy better without 50 people watching."

"Mhmm."

**Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed and that it wasn't as awful as I thought it was ;)**


	12. That Dress

**That Dress...**

"Felicity I can't find the dress you described."

"What? I know it's in there I just saw it this morning."

Felicity was pacing her office talking to Oliver on the phone while he searched through her closet to try and find the dress she asked him to bring. Usually she kept a spare formal dress in the foundry for when a mission called for one but it was still at the drycleaners where she had dropped it off with a vague explanation about the blood stains. She was on a time crunch tonight because she had a meeting at work before she could meet the boys at the gala they were infiltrating. Which is how Oliver ended up in her closet trying to find a dress for her.

"Whoa."

"What was that?"

"Why have I never seen you wear this dress?"

"You're going to have to be more specific Oliver."

"Umm it's black, and there's like parts cut out of it?"

"Oh yeah I think I know which one you're talking about. I wore that when I was in Central City visiting Barry."

"Oh… Wait I think I found the one you wanted. You said red and one shouldered right?"

"Yes. Thank you! If you could just run by and leave it with Jerry I'll change right after this meeting and meet you guys at 7."

* * *

><p>"It's 7:15."<p>

"I know, I'm sorry. You try escaping from Ray Palmer when he's going on and on about his latest ideas. It's a skill I'm still learning to master."

"It's fine. Do you have the tickets?"

"Of course. I'm late, not unprepared."

Oliver proceeded to go over the details of the plan to Roy, Diggle, and Felicity.

"The gala's an art auction and is being held at the home of a wealthy black market owner, Caleb Bishop, hoping to give a respectable front to his less than respectable operation. He practically has an entire mafia of protection around him at all times and typically keeps a low profile so this gala is a rare opportunity at getting close to him. Previous attempts by the police at apprehending him have just sent him retreating into his many layers of protection so we need to be strategic and discrete. Felicity pulled up anything she could find on him and discovered that he is in possession of some very advanced tech that she has some knowledge of."

The plan, much to Oliver's chagrin, involved sending Felicity directly into the lion's den. She would do the flirty flirt—

"Intelligent, VP of an applied science division, flirty flirt," Felicity interrupted him.

- Ask to see said tech, which would hopefully isolate him enough that Oliver, Roy, and Dig could swoop in without making a scene.

"And if that doesn't work?" Roy asked.

"Then we might have to make a small scene," Oliver replied, "I already don't like this plan very much so let's hope it at least works."

* * *

><p>When they arrived at the gala the boys split up to surround the perimeter of the room and keep an eye on Felicity. Oliver watched as she circled through the crowd, stopping to talk to several of the guests. Finally she made her way towards the man of the evening and Oliver felt his whole body tense up.<p>

"Dig you got eyes on her?"

"Yes Oliver. You need to relax. We've thrown her in front of people much more dangerous than this guy. I think the fact that he's young and handsome is what's got you so worried."

Oliver started to reply but clamped his mouth shut as he watched Felicity say something that made Mr. Bishop laugh.

"Leave it to Felicity to make a criminal mastermind laugh," Roy commented over the coms.

They watched as he escorted Felicity over to the dance floor and started to lead her around with smooth practiced dance steps. Oliver's hands clenched into tight fists as the man's hands sunk lower and lower on Felicity's waist.

"She needs to stay focused," he growled.

"She is focused. Oliver she has to get his guard down if she hopes to get him away from the party. She can't just waltz up to him as a total stranger and ask to see his gadgets," Dig reminded him.

"Right."

The two appeared to be in deep conversation for a few minutes before Felicity broke away and turned on her coms.

"Okay here's the situation. I'm heading to the bathroom now and then I'm going to rejoin him. We're heading into his second floor study which is the room I showed you on the blueprints we looked at earlier. How many guards will be following us, I'm not totally sure but-"

"Just asking the necessary questions, does he think you're going to his study to look at his, whatever you said it was, gadget thing or make out because he's been putting the moves on you pretty hard all night," Roy interrupted her.

"Roy!" All three of them exclaimed.

"Hey it was a valid question. Oliver's practically been having a conniption."

"Oh?" Felicity asked.

"Let's just stick to the task at hand. Are you heading back this way now?" Oliver asked.

"Yep, I should be in your view in 3. 2. 1."

"Okay, I see you. Don't worry, we'll be right on your tail. You won't be alone with him for longer than a few minutes."

"I'm not worried. He's actually very nice and interesting to talk to and I'm pretty sure he's quite harmless unless he's secretly a ninja or something because he's not very intimidating looking—"

Oliver cleared his throat.

"But he's evil. Right. Criminal mastermind. Buying and selling things. Illegally. Well here it goes. See you boys on the other side."

Oliver made eye contact with Diggle and Roy from across the room and nodded. They met in a deserted corridor to suit up and then silently crept after Felicity and Caleb, making their way stealthily through the halls of the mansion.

When they arrived at the door to the study, Roy and Diggle took care of the 2 guards while Oliver busted through the door. What he saw was certainly not what he was expecting. Felicity was tied to a chair and gagged. Caleb was standing in front of her and turned at Oliver's entrance.

"Hello, what do they call you? The Arrow? I've been interested in meeting you so you can imagine how happy I was to discover that your little blond friend had hacked into my computers and procured an invitation for tonight. I had a feeling that where she goes, you follow, and I can see why. She's quite charming."

Caleb ran his fingertips down Felicity's exposed shoulder and Oliver flinched.

"I knew we would eventually encounter one another so I wanted it to be on my terms," Caleb continued, "You see, I realize that my line of work would normally put us on opposing sides but seeing as I have something you want," he gestured to Felicity, "I would think that you would be obliged to do me a favor and promise me that you'll stay out of my way. This operation of mine isn't hurting your precious city, it's strengthening it. And seeing as you're sorely outnumbered I really don't think you should try anything. As lovely as Miss Smoak is, I won't hesitate to have one of my men… dispose of her. Lower you bow and back off and I'll let you take her home with you."

Felicity's eyes widened and Oliver could sense that despite her efforts to remain calm she was a bit frazzled.

"I don't think so," Oliver replied and he sprung into action as Roy and Diggle charged into the room. They overtook Caleb and the men he had stationed inside the room and Oliver rushed towards Felicity.

"Are you okay?"

Felicity nodded and accepted his outstretched hand to pull her up from the chair.

Oliver turned to address Caleb, "You know for someone who seemed to have everything so perfectly planned out you forgot one important detail. I don't work alone."

* * *

><p>Oliver had just finished changing out of his arrow suit and showering when he heard the click of heels coming down the foundry stairs. He didn't know what reason Felicity had for coming back. She had headed for home after they successfully delivered the men to the cops an hour ago. He finished pulling on his sweatpants and t shirt and went to meet her at the bottom of the foundry stairs.<p>

"What's up—oh…"

"It seems I'm a little overdressed," Felicity joked as she descended the rest of the stairs.

Oliver did his best to keep his jaw from hitting the floor as he surveyed her in the black dress he had found earlier.

"Felicity it's 1am."

"I know. But someone seemed so jealous that I wore this dress for my date with Barry—"

"You didn't say it was a date."

"No, you're right. I totally wore this dress while we went grocery shopping."

Oliver gave her his "please get to the point" look.

"And then you had to watch me dance and flirt with another man, all in the name of justice and crime fighting but still."

"I'm not jealous of either Barry or Caleb."

Oliver saw Felicity's shoulders slump a bit and he continued, "Because they're not the ones who get to spend every day working alongside you… and have you show up in the middle of the night dressed like that."

Felicity smiled and stepped towards him, "Well I really didn't plan on what I was going to do after I showed up in the dress, but now that I'm here…"

She reached for his hands and placed them around her waist. He pressed his fingers into her smooth skin that was exposed by the cut-outs.

"Are you planning on staying?" Oliver asked.

"I didn't test every mattress in the store just so that bed would be comfortable for you."

**Thanks for reading, I hope you liked it! I'm not very good at writing action scenes but I gave it my best :)**


	13. What's Living For You?

**What's Living For You?...**

_**I wrote this based of the spoiler that Felicity's mom would appear later in the season and her scenes would take place in a hospital. It got a little longer than I was originally planning, I hope you like it!**_

Oliver sat hunched over in the hard chair, fingers rubbing together as a series of images cycled through his head unrelentingly. The car, completely crushed. The gash on her head, long and red. The doors of the ambulance, closing and stealing her away from him. He looked over at the clock and noted that it had been over 36 hours now that he had been waiting. Her mother had arrived not that long ago and was the only one the doctors had admitted into the room where she hadn't yet awoken. The "family only" in a crisis medical situation policy had frustrated him. Over the past two and a half years he had become more aware than ever that family was complicated and had more than one definition. Looking over at Roy who was slumped over in the chair across from him and Diggle who was on the phone with Lyla he saw people who were just as much Felicity's family as anyone who shared her last name. The doctors had put their foot down though and that's why Oliver had called her mother so she wouldn't wake up to an empty room. He wished he could be in there, sitting out here, not knowing how her condition was progressing was agonizing. He wasn't sure if he would be the person she wanted there anyway though. He glanced over at where Palmer was squinting at something on his tablet. Since he had come back from the dead he hadn't really had an opportunity to talk to Felicity about her relationship with Palmer. Was he here as a concerned friend and boss, or something more? Would he be the person she would want to hold her hand as she recovered—if she recovered? The doctors had been tight lipped about how she was doing but he knew that she was teetering on the edge of death when the paramedics had pulled her from the car and the fact that she hadn't awoken yet couldn't be a good sign. It was truly ironic. He'd put her in harm's way so many times and the reason he had pulled away from her was to keep her safe. And yet she was fighting for her life because of a car accident completely unrelated to their nighttime activities. She had been driving home from work when a drunk driver had swerved and sent her into the path of a truck that completely crushed her small car. He had arrived on the scene quickly after hearing word of the accident come across their alert feed. The only thing he could do was watch helplessly as the paramedics whisked her away.

* * *

><p>Felicity was suddenly aware of two things. The lights were really bright and her whole body felt a strange combination of numb mixed with intense pain. When her eyes began to focus she realized she was in a hospital room and there was about a million tubes running into her body. Her memory was jumbled up and she was confused as to how she had gotten there.<p>

She mumbled reflexively, "Where's Oliver?"

"What's that baby?"

The voice of her mother surprised her as she came into view at the foot of her bed.

"Where's Oliver?" she repeated, a little louder this time.

"He's in the waiting room. They wouldn't let anyone who wasn't family in here," Her voice started to crack, "I didn't know if you were going to wake up baby. I was so scared."

"Well it seems like Oliver's ability to avoid death is starting to rub off on me," Felicity muttered as a wave of pain shot through her head.

"Hmmm?"

"Nothing. Shouldn't there be a doctor or a nurse or someone in here? My head really hurts."

A nurse walked through the door and apologized, "I'm so sorry, your condition was stable and we're a bit understaffed tonight so I thought I should go check on the patient next door and I didn't think you would wake up and please don't tell the doctor I abandoned you…"

"Can I please just have something for my head? It hurts like crazy," Felicity interrupted the nurse.

"Yes, of course, you could probably do for a stronger dose of pain meds now that you're awake."

As the nurse started to fiddle with the monitors Felicity spoke up again, "Can you please let Oliver come in and see me?"

"Is he family?"

"Well technically no but-"

"I'm sorry the doctor said no one except for family."

"Well… we don't have to tell the doctor. And besides, as the patient I'm pretty sure it should be up to me."

The nurse looked at her with a conflicted expression, "They're very strict about the family policy here and especially since she does have a relative here I don't think they're going to bend on that."

"Look, the first person she was looking for when she woke up was Oliver. As her mother I should probably be offended that she didn't want her mommy, but as her mother I also feel like I should be able to decide who is considered family."

The nurse looked back and forth at the two identical determined looks on their faces and threw up her hands in defeat, "I'm so going to get in trouble for this."

She turned on her heel and set off towards the waiting room.

* * *

><p>Oliver watched as a nurse entered the waiting room and looked around at the group of men.<p>

"Umm, I'm looking for," she glanced down at her clipboard,"Felicity Smoak's boyfriend—"

Ray stood up. That answered that question for Oliver.

"Oliver?" the nurse continued and Oliver glanced awkwardly at Ray as he sat down again with a confused expression on his face. The nurse looked between the two men and shrugged her shoulders before beckoning for Oliver to follow her and set off down the hallway.

"How is she doing? And umm did Felicity actually refer to me as her boyfriend?" Oliver asked as he caught up with her.

"She's awake, obviously, and stable. She's a strong girl, the doctors are confident that with a few months of rehab she'll be back to normal. And no… I just assumed. Since you were the person she was asking for and all… and well you're a guy and her mom made it seem like you're basically family… and you know what I really don't want to get involved in some weird love triangle that might be going on so I'm just going to be quiet now."

Oliver bit back a smile at her babbling that reminded him so much of Felicity. Before he had time to contemplate Felicity's request for him over her supposed boyfriend they arrived at the door to her room. When the nurse swung the door open he took a sharp breath. Seeing her with tubes and bandages and freshly stitched wounds made him feel like the wind was knocked out of him. He quickly maneuvered over to the chair at her side and gently lifted up her hand.

The increased dose of pain meds had started to make her woozy but she managed to lift the corners of her mouth into a small smile and whisper his name.

"I'm here," he reassured her as he traced the little cuts on her delicate hand with his fingers.

She drifted to sleep and Oliver felt Donna's hand on his shoulder, "You know, when you want to officially make yourself family, you have my approval."

Oliver twisted to look up at her, "I'm not sure I'm the person you should be saying that to. Her boyfriend is in the waiting room."

"And you're in here. Which is pretty telling if you ask me," she stifled a yawn, "Anyway, I think I'll head over to a hotel and get some sleep, between the overnight flight and ganging up on that poor nurse I'm exhausted. Call me if anything changes."

Oliver nodded and turned his attention back to Felicity. He sat by her side, holding her hand and listening to the steady sound of her heart rate monitor beating, while she slept.

* * *

><p>After 2 hours her eyes fluttered open, "Hey."<p>

"Hey."

"You didn't have to stay while I was sleeping."

"I didn't want you to be alone plus I don't think I would have been allowed back in if I left."

Felicity tried to laugh but her bruised ribs made it come out more as a grimace, "Mom and I were pretty intimidating. I think she was worried I was going to start ripping out my IVs and march myself down to the waiting room if they wouldn't let you in."

"But why me?"

Felicity's forehead wrinkled in confusion, "What do you mean?"

Oliver paused, "Well I just thought that you would probably want Palmer, since he's your boyfriend a—"

"What? Ray is not my boyfriend."

"Does he know that? Because when the nurse came out looking for your boyfriend he was pretty quick to stand up."

Felicity groaned, "I never asked for my boyfriend, the nurse must have just assumed and I guess he looked around the room and figured he was most likely who she was looking for. I mean we went out to dinner a couple times, mostly work related, and I was helping him with his ATOM suit and we were getting closer so maybe things would have progressed but then you… you died. And my head wasn't exactly in the dating game."

Tears started to fall down her face and Oliver felt guilty for bringing up the subject.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought it up," he reached over to gently brush the tears from her face.

"No. It's okay. We have a lot we need to talk about and this might be the longest period of your undivided attention I'll get for a long time. Should have landed myself in the hospital as soon as you got back."

Oliver frowned.

"Just joking."

"I agree. We need to talk… because things have changed."

Felicity just looked at him and he took that as a signal to keep talking.

"I wasn't ready to talk about what happened on the mountain when I first came back. I needed time to process and I guess the way I do that best is by putting on the hood."

"I was angry at you for that. I wish you processed the same way as me so you could curl up on my couch with a pint of mint chip instead of getting shot at."

Oliver sighed, "I know. But I've had 2 weeks to process and a lot of it happened during the hours that I sat in that waiting room so now you there are things you need to know. Just before everything was over I saw some things flash before my eyes. First my parents and then Thea. And if that's all I had seen I think I could have been at peace with my death. I had honored my parents in the best way I knew how; by making sure it wasn't Thea on that mountain. But then I saw you, saw us, in the one moment that I allowed myself to love you the way I wanted."

Felicity whispered, "The kiss."

Oliver smiled, "Yeah. And in that moment I realized that you were right. Life is precious. And now mine was over and all I could think about was how stupid I was for only allowing myself one moment where I was really living. And then I got a miracle and before I knew it I was back in front of you. But I still wasn't sure what to do. Being with me, it's dangerous. Being only The Arrow, cutting off the part of me that's Oliver, I thought it was the best way to protect the people I love. I didn't want to be the reason you died and here I almost got my wish. It wasn't until I was sitting in that waiting room, not knowing if I would ever hear your laugh or hover over your shoulder while your fingers raced across the keyboard, that I promised myself if you fought to survive I would fight to live."

"Alright, so I held up my end of the deal. What's living for you?"

"Living is… stopping a drug deal at night and making you pancakes in the morning. Rebuilding QC, from scratch if I have to, and giving you the position you always deserved. Going on dates with you that may or may not blow up, because as much as I hate it that's an occupational hazard. I can't stop being the Arrow—"

"And I would never ask you to. That's a part of who you are."

"But it's just a part. The Arrow isn't a person, it's a weapon. I have to be Oliver Queen under the hood."

"Well it sounds like you've got things pretty figured out. What's your next move Mr. Queen?"

"That's up to you."

"Hmmm?"

"Up to this point, I've kind of left you out of the decision making process and that's not really fair since it's your life too."

"I said I wouldn't wait with you to die. But if you're ready to live then you should know that I'll be standing right next to you. Once I can stand that is. A broken leg kind of makes that hard. And all the other broken bones, and bruises, and this massive headache. Can you get the nurse? I think I'm ready for them to give me a nap inducing hit of pain meds again."

Oliver smiled and shook his head, "You know that the IV is pumping a constant stream of pain meds into your bloodstream?"

"What? But everything hurts so bad."

"I can imagine. You're going to rival me for number of scars now."

"I'm glad we talked though. Took care of the worst pain, in here," she tapped her heart.

The door swung open and Donna Smoak reappeared with Big Belly Burger in hand.

"Well napping was unsuccessful so I fed all the boys in the waiting room and sent them home. Brought some food for you Oliver- I'm sorry am I interrupting something?"

Felicity smiled up at her mom, "No, it's alright. We're good, really good."

**Thanks for reading!**


	14. Pretty Sure You Forfeited

**_Pretty Sure You Forfeited..._**

_Something short and fluffy for you on this Arrow Wednesday :)_

"Felicity what are you doing?" Oliver asked as he walked down the foundry stairs one morning. A bunch of things had been pushed to one side of the main room and there was a tarp on the floor. She was wearing one of his old button down shirts and a pair of shorts peeked out the bottom.

"Painting a wall." Felicity replied.

"Yes… I can see that. But why? And shouldn't you be at work?"

"I had a day off, and I was tired of staring at this disgustingly dirty wall. There is blood on this wall Oliver, blood. I tried to clean it but I decided it just needed a whole new coat of paint."

Oliver watched her stand on her tip toes to try to reach the top of the wall and walked over to her, "Do you want some help?"

"Well since you're here, might as well put you to work. Have you ever painted before? Don't rich people hire professional painters? This might be too hard for you," Felicity teased him.

Oliver just rolled his eyes and continued walking towards her to retrieve the extra roller she had lying on the floor beside her.

To this day it is still disputed as to who started it. Both stubbornly claim it was the other. (It was definitely Oliver.)

Felicity felt the first flick of paint hit her shoulder and looked over at him with a raised eyebrow, "Oh you wanna go there Mr. Queen?" She fired back her own splotch of paint and he turned so it landed square on his back.

Oliver spun back around to her with a grin and flicked more paint.

"You are such a 5 year old!" She yelled but she couldn't help but laugh as she retaliated.

Paint was flying everywhere and Oliver yelled for a truce as he pulled Felicity in for a kiss… and smeared paint all down the side of her face.

Her eyes widened and she smacked him in the butt, leaving a perfect paint handprint. (Roy would find this pair of pants the next day while doing some laundry and be too afraid to even ask.)

The battle continued in a flurry of kisses and streaks of paint until finally Felicity stopped to catch her breath and announced that they needed to call a real truce because they had a big mess to clean up.

They both turned around to assess the damage but thankfully most of the paint had ended up on them and not everything else in the foundry.

3 hours later the foundry was clean again, Felicity had scrubbed all the paint out of her hair, the wall was almost dry and the two were sitting on the floor eating Big Belly Burger.

"You're right, that wall really did need painted. It looks a lot better."

"I usually am right."

"However you definitely did not win that battle."

"Umm we called a truce so no one technically won."

"Pretty sure you forfeited."

"Forfeited? I called for a truce which you agreed to, I definitely did not forfeit. And trust me, if I wasn't worried about our stuff getting destroyed by paint I would have totally taken you down."

"Oh yeah?"

"Mhmm."

"How exactly do you win a paint battle anyway?"

"I don't know I just know I would."


	15. A Little Heads Up Would Be Good

_**A Little Heads Up Would Be Good...**_

Felicity perched on one of the tables in the foundry and pretended to be watching her computer screen run an update as she snuck glances at Oliver doing his weekly circuit on the salmon ladder. She had a feeling she wasn't very successful at being subtle about it though because Oliver was definitely showing off more than usual. She quickly snapped her eyes back to the screen when Oliver's feet hit the ground. He walked over to where she was sitting and pressed a kiss to her forehead before moving in closer.

"You're gross and sweaty," she complained and tried to push him back but she couldn't resist his puppy eyes and the grin on his face. She rolled her eyes and pulled him in for a kiss. Oliver was running his fingers along the hem of her shirt and sliding it over her head when a red flurry caused them to jump apart in surprise.

"Barry! What happened to scouting out a location before you just rush in?" Oliver growled as he angled himself in front of Felicity with her shirt balled in his fist. Barry turned red and Felicity buried her face in Oliver's back to stifle a laugh.

"Umm sorry? To be fair though, this isn't exactly a crime scene," Barry gestured and then pointed at them, "And I certainly wasn't expecting that. Kinda inconsistent with your whole _guys like us don't get the girl _truth bomb you dropped on me, which by the way is totally-"

"Barry, do you have a reason for being here?" Oliver interrupted him, but not before Felicity's curiosity was peaked at Barry's words.

She peeked out from over Oliver's shoulder and raised an eyebrow at Barry, "What do you mean that guys like you don't get the girl?"

She felt Oliver shift uncomfortably in front of her.

"Oh you know Oliver; he had to share his brooding man pain with me before I could officially be accepted into his hero club. It went a little something like this _"Give up on Iris, Barry. You are only allowed dramatic, longing glances at the girl of your dreams like me if you want to be a part of my squad." _Didn't take your advice by the way, and clearly you've revised your game plan too," Barry explained with a smirk, "Anyway I came to ask Felicity for some help with the meta-human we've been tracking. He has some ties to Starling City and I know you have a pretty good database and I could have called but I was up for a run so…"

Felicity slid off the table and walked out from behind Oliver towards her computer, her shirt still in Oliver's hand. Oliver glanced at Barry who seemed suspiciously un-phased and he shrugged, "Already seen her shirtless."

Oliver's eyebrows rose and Barry coughed, "I mean it wasn't on purpose, her shirt was on fire because it isn't made of the same stuff as my suit obviously and it couldn't handle my speed and I had to rip it off so she wouldn't get burned—"

Oliver just rolled his eyes and walked over to where Felicity was hovering over her computer. She had the information Barry needed in a few minutes and he sped off again with a promise to give them a heads up the next time he decided to drop in.

"Are we going to talk about you giving Barry absolutely terrible relationship advice?" Felicity asked as Oliver lifted her back up to her spot on the table.

"Nope," Oliver replied as he pressed his lips into hers.

**Thanks for reading! I hope you liked it :)**


	16. Mr Billionaire

_**Mr. Billionaire... **_

Felicity was struggling to keep her eyes from closing despite her rapidly increasing panic. She glanced at the clock and noticed that it was midnight. Oliver and Roy weren't back yet from their patrol and she hadn't heard from them in an hour. She told herself that something must have just gone wrong with the coms, that the boys would come walking down the stairs any second. The minutes ticked by. She organized and re-sorted the files on her computer. She watered the fern. She worried. She wiped down all the counters. She ran a load of laundry. She tried not to look at the clock. A clatter upstairs made her jump and she ran over to the bottom of the stairwell.

"Where were you two?" Felicity yelled at them, "Hours of silence! Do you want to give me a heart attack?"

"We got held up." "I think the coms went out." They responded at the same time.

"Well I'm glad you're both safe, now if you'll excuse me I'm going to head home and get some sleep so I don't fall asleep at my desk tomorrow—wait why are you two soaking wet?"

"It's snowing."

"Oh. Like a couple flurries snowing or a blizzard?"

"Like unless you're hiding a snowmobile around here that I don't know about, we're all stuck here for the night, snowing."

"Well it's a good thing I keep some pajamas and a toothbrush here," Felicity announced before walking towards the bathroom.

"Oh no, Mom is grumpy," she heard Roy whisper and she couldn't help a small smile from appearing before shutting the bathroom door behind her.

She settled herself into Oliver's bed and fell asleep quickly to the sound of the shower running as the boys took their showers and thawed out from their adventure in the snow.

She woke up at some point in the night and rolled over to see Oliver awake and hovering over her desk. She quietly slid out of bed and shuffled over to him. When she wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head on his back he tensed but then relaxed upon realizing it was her.

"Why aren't you getting some sleep?"

"You took my bed."

"Well I think it's plenty big for the both of us but that's not the real problem is it?

"My mind has a lot running through it and it doesn't quiet down very well at night. Usually I would do a patrol but that's kind of impossible and unnecessary in a white out."

Felicity had an idea and walked over to a cabinet in the corner of the foundry.

"What are you doing?" Oliver inquired after her.

Felicity pulled out a game box and flipped it up so he could see the title.

"Monopoly?"

"Yep Mr. Billionaire, we're going to see who the real tycoon is around here, besides this game takes so long it always put me to sleep."

Oliver smiled and shook his head at her, "Why do we even have a Monopoly board down here?"

Felicity shrugged, "I have no idea; I found it the other day. So what do you say? You game?"

"I'm the car."

"What? Oh, the game piece, gotcha."

_-3 hours later-_

"I can't believe you landed on my Boardwalk hotel for the 3rd turn around the board in a row, how do you even have any money left?" Felicity asked as she laughed at Oliver's obvious frustration.

As he was scraping together his dues, Roy walked around the corner rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"What are you two doing? You're so loud and obnoxious- You guys are playing Monopoly without me?"

"Roy! I completely forgot you were even here," Felicity replied.

"Gee thanks," Roy muttered.

"Forgot you were here too, you're lucky the only thing you walked in on was us playing Monopoly," Oliver added.

Felicity waggled her eyebrows at Roy and he backed away, "You two are disgusting. I'm going back to sleep. In the farthest corner of this place."

After he disappeared around the corner, they resumed their game.

"I can't pay up," Oliver admitted, "You've drained all my resources Ms. Smoak."

Felicity grinned and patted his shoulder, "You tried your best."

"Uh huh," Oliver said with a yawn and Felicity's eyes lit up.

"See, I told you it would make you sleepy!"

"Yep, time for bed," Oliver announced as he scooped her up off the floor.

He laid her down in his bed, pulled the covers up to her chin, and pressed a kiss to her forehead.

He started to walk away and she sat up in bewilderment, "Seriously?"

"What?" Oliver turned and asked with fake confusion.

She patted the spot on the bed next to her, "Aren't you going to join me?"

"I don't know, I'm a little upset at getting beat so badly at Monopoly," Oliver teased.

Felicity threw a pillow at him, "Don't be a sore loser Mr. Queen. Get over here and you can have a consolation prize."

Oliver picked up the pillow and walked back over to her, "Oh?"

_-the next morning-_

Felicity woke up to the sound of Roy talking loudly on the phone.

"Digg, I don't care that there's 18 inches of snow on the ground. You have to come get me out of here." Roy pleaded.

_**Thanks for Reading!**_


	17. Russia Re-do Part 1

**Russia Re-do Part 1...**

**_Aside from a few things, namely Isabel Rochev, the episode in season 2 where the team goes to Russia is a favorite of mine. I wanted to write another trip for them that takes place in s3. This is set after Oliver has come back from his duel with Ra's but I changed things a little. No alliance with Merlyn and no "I don't want to be a woman you love." The O/F tension in this story just comes from Oliver's continued reluctance to be with Felicity and her trying to move on. I wanted to publish this first part now and the rest of the story will be up in a few hours or at the latest tomorrow. Enjoy!_**

"Do you have an appointment to see Ms. Smoak, Mr…?"

"Queen, Oliver Queen. And no I don't have an appointment but—"

"I'm sorry Mr. Queen, but Ms. Smoak is very busy and it's part of my job to make sure that she isn't interrupted unexpectedly. You'll have to make an appointment. Let me pull up her schedule for you."

"Look. It's Jerry right?"

Jerry nodded and Oliver continued, "I appreciate you being so dedicated to Felicity but I literally just need to have a five minute conversation with her. And seeing as these walls are glass, and she's waving at me right now, I'm pretty sure that she'd be okay with it."

Jerry cleared his throat, "Of course, sorry to hold you up."

Oliver flashed him a smile and walked past him into Felicity's office.

"Your EA is very protective of your time," Oliver commented as he settled into the chair opposite Felicity's desk.

"My EA has a massive crush on me," Felicity returned, "Barry stopped in to drop off some things from Caitlyn and brought me lunch last week. I'm pretty sure Jerry asked me at least once an hour for the rest of the day if he was my boyfriend. For security purposes."

Oliver laughed, "Is he doing a background check on me as we speak?"

"You should hope he's not. But what brings you here?"

"What are the chances you could take a couple days off from work?"

"Why?" Felicity asked, "I mean I can definitely get a couple days off, I could probably take like a whole month off, Ray really doesn't care what I do, I mean he does, obviously I have to do my job but he's used to me working really strange hours and—sorry, back to the original question."

"Digg and Lyla have a job to do for Waller, in Russia. I'm tagging along because my Bratva contacts will probably come in handy and we could really use your help as well."

Felicity cringed, "Okay first of all, the last trip we took to Russia was certainly memorable but not in a good way, for various reasons. And second of all, does Waller really want me helping out with ARGUS stuff?"

"I promise no one is going to have to infiltrate a dangerous Russian prison this time and we won't have any unexpected and unwanted traveling partners. Think about it, and let me know by this evening. I should probably head out. I promised Jerry I'd only occupy 5 minutes of your time."

Oliver stood up to walk out and Felicity called after him, "You didn't answer my second question…"

"What Waller doesn't know won't kill her," Oliver tossed over his shoulder with a wink.

"I'm pretty sure Waller knows everything," Felicity muttered as he exited her office and saluted Jerry.

She rolled her eyes and leaned back in her chair to consider his proposal.

* * *

><p>Felicity sat her bag down on her desk in the foundry that evening and announced, "Alright, I'm in. Viva La Russia. Can you tell me exactly what we're going to be doing now?"<p>

"We don't know a lot of the details yet, actually. Lyla's going to fill us in tonight after she meets with Waller," Digg answered.

"And Amanda is still in the dark about me being a part of this team?" Felicity asked.

"Lyla has been given permission to assemble the team she thinks is most qualified to complete the mission. I don't think the three of us is what Waller had in mind, but she, trusts might not be the correct word because I don't think she trusts anyone, but she and Lyla have come to an understanding over the years."

Oliver addressed Roy and Laurel who were getting ready to leave on patrol, "I trust you two to handle things while we're gone. It shouldn't be longer than a week."

* * *

><p>"The mission is essentially an intel extraction, which is why we're taking Felicity. Technically I could do it, but not as quickly and cleanly. I'm confident you can get what we need without leaving any traces. We'll be using your Bratva contacts Oliver to get us access. Here's a folder for each of you with the rest of the details. We'll be departing on an ARGUS jet in two days," Lyla finished speaking and Felicity flipped quickly through the information in the folder. A certain detail caught her eye and she decided that a shopping trip would be in order before they left. <em>Formal Attire required for infiltration.<em>

As Oliver walked her out to her car he asked what she had told Palmer she was requesting time off for.

"A trip to Russia," she stated with a shrug, "He let me use his helicopter without much explanation. He was probably just relieved that at least this request wasn't endangering any of his possessions."

"Our inability to refuse you anything is at least one thing Palmer and I have in common," Oliver muttered.

"What?" Felicity asked.

"Nothing. I'm glad you decided to come," Oliver replied as she slid into her car.

* * *

><p>Felicity rolled her suitcase along the tarmac to the ARGUS jet. Lyla and Digg were taking turns pressing kisses to Sara's forehead and running over last minute details with the nanny before passing her off. Oliver walked up behind her and when she turned she saw he was looking past her at the little family clustered in front of them with an expression she couldn't quite place before his usual demeanor returned.<p>

"Ready to go?" she asked, snapping his attention to her.

He nodded and they sent their luggage off with an ARGUS employee to be packed before climbing into the jet. Felicity settled into a seat next to Oliver and powered up her tablet. Oliver glanced over every once in a while and smiled to himself as he watched her switch between reading something that was obviously for work, and scrolling through an online shoe store.

After a few hours she started to yawn and as her head slowly tilted to the side he gently guided it to his shoulder before her breathing evened out and he knew she had fallen asleep.

* * *

><p>Felicity woke up to Oliver brushing a strand of hair that had slipped out of her ponytail away from her face. She stifled a sigh at the feeling of his fingers, rough yet soft at the same time, and the intimacy of the gesture. Nothing had changed between them, she reminded herself. She sat up and attempted to put some more distance between them.<p>

"Did you have a good nap?"

"Mhhmm. Are we there yet?"

Lyla looked up from her tablet, "I just checked with the pilot a few minutes ago, we should be landing shortly."

Felicity stretched out her legs in front of her and slid her tablet back into her bag, "So what's the first thing we need to do when we land?"

"Get to our hotel," Lyla looked down awkwardly, "There's one thing I forgot to mention. There were only two rooms available in the location we needed. I've been assured that one of them has two double beds, but still I realize it's not ideal."

_Could this be any more cliché?_

Felicity pasted on a smile, "It's no problem."

Lyla relaxed slightly and Oliver nodded in agreement.

Felicity wondered how Oliver really felt about the arrangements. She had been doing everything she could to keep their relationship friendly, yet distant, while her heart healed. She knew she was breaking his heart, but if he wasn't going to do anything about it, she wasn't allowing herself to feel guilty.

**_To be continued..._**


	18. Russia Re-do Part 2

_**Russia Re-do Part 2...**_

When they arrived at the hotel, they were given their room keys and a hostess escorted them to the top floor. She swung open the door to Oliver and Felicity's room and they were greeted by, one bed.

"Oh this must actually be their room," Felicity explained to the hostess as she waved a hand towards Digg and Lyla, "Ours has two beds."

The hostess looked at her in confusion, "Two? All the rooms on this floor have one bed Miss. Perfect for couples."

_Wow, I guess it can get even more cliché._

"Oh. That's just great." Felicity managed to force out with only a tinge of sarcasm. It didn't go unnoticed though and the hostess looked at her as if she was crazy to be upset that she would have to share a bed with such a handsome man. A few months ago she would have been secretly delighted, but this wasn't exactly going to help her with her "kill off all romantic feelings towards Oliver" crusade she had recently embarked on. Oliver seemed relatively unfazed by the whole situation however and had already carried their things into the room. _Darn him and his ability to compartmentalize_ she thought to herself as she followed him in.

"There isn't anything that we need to do in relation to the mission for the rest of the day. Digg and Lyla were going to get some rest, but since you slept on the flight I was wondering if you were up for a walk?" Oliver asked, "We didn't exactly have time for sightseeing on our last trip."

"Yeah I don't think prison is high on the list of must see places in Russia," Felicity joked.

Oliver flashed her that smile that he seemed to only share with her as he shook his head and Felicity felt her resistance cracking so she reminded herself again that he didn't want to be with her and that she needed to keep things strictly professional between them. They were on a mission, not their honeymoon, no matter what the lavish and romantic room suggested.

"A walk sounds nice," she replied formally. She could tell that Oliver noticed her quick change in demeanor and his smile faded. She crushed down the guilt once again that she'd been fighting for weeks and grabbed her coat.

* * *

><p>Oliver led her into a small bakery that's window was brimming with an array of delicious looking treats.<p>

"Valentina makes the best gingerbread, you have to try it," he told her as he pulled her towards the counter. She bit her lip to keep the grin that was threatening to break out on her face under control at his childlike excitement.

"Mr. Oliver? Is that you?"

An older, but still very beautiful woman, walked out from behind the counter and Oliver practically crushed her in a hug.

"You promised me you would come back and visit, oh I didn't think it would take you this long but I'm so happy to see you again, and who is this?" Valentina, Felicity assumed, reached for her arm and pulled her closer.

"Valentina, this is my friend Felicity. Felicity, this is Valentina," Oliver introduced the two women and Felicity got pulled into a hug from Valentina.

"Any friend of Mr. Oliver is a friend of mine," Valentina said warmly, "Now I'm sure you'll be wanting some gingerbread and you're in luck because I'm just getting ready to pull some fresh from the oven."

"I thought you said nothing good happened while you were away?" Felicity questioned as they watched Valentina retreat into the kitchen.

"Valentina's son was a part of my brigade. He got involved when his father died. Unfortunately he met the same fate as his father; I was with him when he died. Asked me to look out for his mother, which I did as best as I could. Valentina was good to me, but the situations that orchestrated our companionship were far from good."

Felicity couldn't help it. She reached out and placed her hand gently on his arm, "I know it's hard for you to talk about things that happened while you were away, but I appreciate you sharing these things with me."

They spent the next hour sitting at a cozy fireside table eating gingerbread while Oliver and Valentina swapped stories from the past years. Felicity blushed as Oliver told Valentina about how they had met and how important her friendship was to him. They exited the shop with a box of pastries for Digg and Lyla and a promise that they would try to return once more before heading back home.

They walked around for another hour or so, Oliver pointing out different places to her, but none held the same meaning as Valentina's bakery. At some point Felicity looked down and noticed that their hands were intertwined. She quickly released her hand and fumbled for her phone in her bag.

"I'm going to call Digg and see what they were planning on doing for dinner, although I'm still pretty stuffed from that gingerbread."

* * *

><p>They found themselves eating room service on the floor of Digg and Lyla's hotel room while they looked over the blueprints of the house they were going to be infiltrating. Felicity listened as they discussed the details, before sharing her two cents on the best way for her to be able to hack into the mainframe. The clock flashed midnight and they decided to call it a day. Back in their room, Felicity grabbed her things and headed straight for the bathroom. She showered quickly, brushed her teeth, and slipped on her favorite pajamas. She stood with her hand on the doorknob for a second. The moment she had been dreading all day was rapidly approaching.<p>

_Two mature people. Platonically sharing a bed. No biggie. _

She took a deep breath and stepped out into the bedroom. Oliver looked up and quirked a smile at her pajamas before walking past her into the bathroom. She scurried over to the bed, eager to be able to at least pretend to be asleep when Oliver was finished with his shower, and curled up as close to the edge as she could without falling off. She heard the water shut off and snapped her eyes shut, trying to even out her breathing. A few minutes later, the door to the bathroom opened and she listened to his approaching footsteps. She had a feeling he knew she wasn't really asleep but she appreciated that he just ignored her as he settled into his side and switched off the lights.

* * *

><p>The next morning Felicity woke up with her arm wrapped around something warm… and breathing. She opened her eyes quickly and realized that she was on the other side of the bed and her arm was draped over Oliver's – sigh – bare torso. She tried to roll back over to her side before Oliver woke up, but it was too late. His eyes flickered open and he looked down at her teasingly.<p>

"I didn't know you wanted to cuddle."

She smacked him across the chest, frustrated that it probably hurt her hand more than him, and scooted back over to her side.

"I didn't. I must have rolled over in the night," she replied, keeping her eyes glued to the ceiling.

"Mhhmm," Oliver replied and reached his arm out to pull her back into him.

She sat up quickly at glared at him, "No Oliver. No. You don't get to do this. You don't get to continue to be all flirty flirt with me and act like you haven't told me, repeatedly, that we can't be together. It's not fair and now I keep feeling guilty for trying to push you away but I shouldn't feel guilty because this. Is. Not. My. Fault. You're the one who pushed me away. So please, don't make this harder than it already is for me and try to remember that we're partners and nothing more."

She swung her legs off the bed and retreated into the bathroom. Taking her time she slipped into her dress and carefully smoothed her hair back into its usual ponytail. She applied her makeup and finished it off with a swipe of her favorite pink lipstick. She didn't regret her words to Oliver, but this wasn't the first time she had had to say them and she wished he would actually listen. She adjusted her glasses and braced herself to face Oliver again. When she walked out Oliver was sitting on the edge of the bed with his head in his hands.

At the sound of her footsteps he lifted his head up to address her, "I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what Oliver? Sorry that I'm right? Sorry that you still can't be with me? Sorry for making it so hard to move on because every time I try you smile at me or touch my shoulder and all my progress goes out the window? Please, be a little specific."

"I'm sorry that I've spent the last 8 years of my life just trying to survive and that I have no idea how to live anymore. But when I figure it out, and I promise you I'm trying, I want more than anything to live with you. That's why I can't just let you go. But I understand that you want to move on and it's selfish of me to make you wait for me. So from now on, things will be strictly platonic and professional between us. No smiling, no shoulder touching, is there anything else I need to avoid?"

He made a move to stand up but Felicity quickly crossed over to sit next to him on the bed. She grabbed one of his hands and placed it in her lap.

"Uhh, what exactly is your definition of platonic Felicity?"

"Will you just shut up for like 5 seconds and listen to me?"

Oliver closed his mouth and looked at her expectantly.

"You're kind of an idiot. I mean you're very smart, way smarter than most people give you credit for, but also an idiot. You think that you have to figure everything out by yourself and that I'm only going to want to be with you once you've got your whole life completely ordered, but you're wrong. I said that I couldn't wait around while you just dangle empty maybes. You just need to realize now that if what you want is to live with me then you need to let me be with you so that I can show you how to live. Did that make any sense? Because it made sense in my head and then I started talking and now I'm not sure that it did-"

"Felicity."

"Yeah?"

"I'm not really living unless I'm with you."

"Basically. Yeah that's exactly what I was trying to say, just less words and less ramble-y. The whole loner thing is definitely survival mode stuff. I mean technically you could be with anyone not just me, that would be kind of prideful of me to assume that I'm the only person who-"

Felicity was abruptly stopped by Oliver's lips crashing into hers. She let him pull her into him, the weeks of trying to keep her distance floating away.

When they broke apart, Oliver kept his hands where they were cradling her face just like the kiss in the hospital. Only this time there was no reason to walk away. She knew this kiss wasn't a goodbye.

"There is definitely no other person," Oliver whispered before placing another quick kiss on her lips.

"So now what do we do?" Felicity asked.

"Now we prep to infiltrate a high security party so you can do your hacking thing," Oliver said with a wry smile, "Because that's our life."

"Eh, two cars and a white picket fence was never really my thing anyway."

_**To be continued...**_

_Thank you so so much for all your kind reviews on the first part! Originally I wasn't planning for this to be so long but I decided I wanted Oliver and Felicity to start to resolve some of their problems before the mission, you'll see why in the third part ;), and so it needed to evolve into more than just a quick one shot. The next part should be up tomorrow or possibly sooner :) _


	19. Russia Re-do Part 3

**Russia Re-do Part 3...**

_**Sorry it took a little longer for this part to go up, I was away all weekend and I didn't have my computer. The fourth and most likely final part will be up soon. **_

Felicity sat on the window seat of the hotel room and scrolled through her work email on her tablet. Oliver and Digg had gone off to meet up with Anatoli to try to score them an invite to the party tomorrow and Lyla was at a local ARGUS headquarters for a meeting, so that just left her alone and currently super bored. Ray had left several voicemails for her and she had already finished everything he had requested her to do. She thought back to her conversation with Oliver and smiled. There was still a lot to be said, and she needed to see him actually committed and working towards building a life with her from underneath his hood, but she was optimistic. For now she was just relieved that they could continue their trip without the tension and awkwardness. She stood up and reached for her coat. They hadn't exactly specified that she needed to stay at the hotel and she was ready for a change of scenery from the four walls of their hotel room. She wandered down the street she had been on with Oliver yesterday and found herself in front of Valentina's bakery. The bell over the door rang as she walked in and she saw Valentina turn from where she was arranging pastries in her display case.

"Miss Felicity!" she exclaimed excited and walked towards her for a hug. Pulling back she asked, "No Oliver today?"

"No, he had some business to attend to. Is there anything I could help you with here?"

Valentina's smile grew, "How about I teach you how to make gingerbread?"

"Oh I don't know, I'm not very good in the kitchen…"

"Nonsense, if I could teach Mr. Oliver how to bake—"

"Oliver can bake?"

"I can teach anyone how to bake."

Felicity spent the next two hours in the kitchen with Valentina hovering over her shoulder, guiding her along. She didn't plan on trading her wires and microchips for flour and a mixing bowl any time soon but she enjoyed her lesson. The two women swapped stories and Felicity was amazed by the woman's quiet strength in the face of the hardships she had endured living in the Bratva's web. She could see why Oliver respected her so much.

"Mr. Oliver always had such a good heart despite the things he was forced to do for the Bratva. I'm glad he is free now to be the hero he was meant to be. And to find someone as lovely to share his life with as you Miss Felicity."

"Oh. Well…"

"I'm sorry, I just assumed that the two of you…"

"We're figuring things out. I mean we both love each other, but the life we lead… it's complicated. This trip has actually been really good for us, we've had some time to talk."

Valentina opened her mouth to reply when the door of the bakery swung open abruptly and the bell chimed loudly.

"Valentina?" Oliver called frantically from the entryway, "Have you seen- oh."

Oliver paused when he saw Felicity.

"Is everything okay?" she asked.

"That's what I was going to ask. You haven't answered your phone for the past few hours and when I went to the hotel you were gone."

Felicity reached for her phone and realized that she had left it in the hotel room.

"I'm sorry; I must left my phone charging on the nightstand. I should have told you where I was going, I didn't expect you to be finished so soon."

Oliver exhaled, "It's fine. I'm just glad you're safe."

"Yep, just baking some gingerbread, not tied up in the back of a van or bleeding out on the pavement—"

Oliver paled and Felicity stepped forward to place a hand on his chest, "Sorry. Just- erase that mental picture. You ready to head back to the hotel?"

"Yes, Digg and I need to update you and Lyla."

Felicity thanked Valentina again for letting her spend the morning with her and followed Oliver out of the bakery.

* * *

><p>"So the good news is, we're going to a party," Oliver announced.<p>

"What were we going to do if you couldn't score us an invite?" Felicity asked.

"We were just going to break in to the house. But this is slightly more fun," Oliver replied.

"Only slightly?"

"It's still going to be risky and dangerous. The Bratva is not to be underestimated."

"Look, I know I freaked you out earlier Oliver but it's going to be fine. We've gone over these plans a million times. I'll have the data dumped onto a drive in less than 5 minutes and then we can get back to the party, no one will be the wiser."

They concluded their briefing and Oliver and Felicity went back to their room for the night.

"Oh look, 9 missed calls and 13 texts from Oliver Queen," Felicity commented as she picked her phone up from the nightstand.

* * *

><p>Felicity settled into the middle of the bed and waited for Oliver to finish in the bathroom.<p>

He walked out and paused at the sight of her, "So we're not going to do the whole pretending to be asleep thing tonight? Which by the way, you're really terrible at. Not to mention the fact that you still ended up on top of me in the morning."

Felicity flushed and looked down as Oliver crawled across the bed towards her.

"In my defense it was cold in here last night and you put off a lot of body heat. I think my survival instincts pushed me towards the nearest heat source."

"Whatever you say," Oliver replied as he maneuvered them so she was settled comfortably at his side.

She ran a finger tentatively over the tattoo on his chest, outlining the symbol that marked his status in the Bratva.

"Your body tells quite a story," Felicity commented and Oliver raised his eyebrows, "That sounded weird. I just meant, all these tattoos and scars, they all signify a part of the journey that shaped you into the person you are now."

Oliver nodded and watched her silently as her fingers continued their path over the dark ink. She let her fingers gently trail down his torso before resting her head on his chest and closing her eyes.

"Busy day tomorrow, better get some sleep," she muttered.

Oliver shut off the lamp on the nightstand and pressed a kiss into her hair before closing his eyes too.

* * *

><p>Felicity placed one last pin into her updo and assessed her work in the mirror. She pulled her gown out of the garment bag and stepped into the long shimmery column of emerald green fabric. Reaching behind her for her zipper she discovered that she wasn't going to be able to do it up herself.<p>

"Oliver?" she opened the door from the bathroom and found him waiting in his suit, "Can you zip me?"

Without waiting for an answer she turned expectantly. He walked towards her and slowly ran his hand along her spine, causing her to shiver despite the warmth of the room, as he dragged the zipper up. She turned back to face him and he ducked his head down for a quick kiss.

"I'm allowed to do that now, right?"

She reached under his suit jacket to grab his suspenders and pull him in closer, "Definitely."

He grinned and, wrapping his arms around her waist, pressed his lips to hers again. A knock on the door caused them to break apart reluctantly, as Diggle announced that it was time to go.

"To be continued..." Oliver whispered into her ear before opening the door and sending a blushing Felicity in search of her shoes.

* * *

><p>"I went on a double date in Highschool one time. Miniature golf. Beat my date, never heard from him again. I guess his ego was too fragile, couldn't handle getting his butt kicked by a girl." Felicity babbled from the backseat seat of the car, "I don't think we should consider this a date though. With our track record something will probably blow up."<p>

Oliver glanced at her in the rearview mirror with an expression that was hard to read.

"If everything goes well tonight and nothing blows up we can go on a real double date tomorrow. The ARGUS jet isn't scheduled to pick us up for another 2 days," Lyla commented from her seat as she lifted up her dress and strapped a gun to her thigh.

Digg pulled the car into place at the stately manor and he and Oliver hopped out to open the back doors for Lyla and Felicity. Felicity stepped out and accepted Oliver's outstretched arm as they walked towards the entry. At the door Oliver exchanged a few words in Russian and the four of them were admitted into an opulent foyer. Anatoli walked over to them and greeted Oliver warmly.

"Anatoli, you remember Felicity?"

"Of course, a woman like her is not easily forgotten," Anatoli replied before adding something in Russian with a devilish grin on his face.

By the way Oliver's fingers dug tightly into her waist and Lyla's eyes widened slightly, she had a feeling she was better off not knowing. Her curiosity got the better of her though, and after Anatoli walked away she asked Oliver what he said.

"He said you look beautiful," Oliver answered with a wink but his smile seemed forced and he added seriously, "Please stay close to me tonight okay? Some of the men here aren't exactly gentlemen…"

Felicity nodded, but muttered softly, "I need to learn Russian."

Oliver's real smile returned, "I can teach you. But right now, we have a party to attend. Care to dance?"

Felicity looped her arm through his and let him guide her out to the dance floor. A few men looked a little too long at her, but a glare from Oliver sent them in the other direction.

The plan was to intermingle with the party for a bit before they snuck off to the study. Digg and Lyla would cover them while Felicity retrieved the data. If everything went as planned they would slip back into the party and the next day a drive would be sitting on someone's desk at ARGUS's Russian headquarters. It was a simple job, any number of agents probably could have pulled it off, but not with the same level of undetectability that Oliver's connections and Felicity's skills allowed. Should the Bratva be tipped off to ARGUS accessing their information, an abundance of problems would arise that Amanda was eager to avoid.

Felicity tucked away the mission to the back of her brain for a few moments on the dance floor with Oliver. He was a surprisingly good dancer so she relaxed into his arms and rested her head on his chest as he slowly spun her around the room. They had fallen into such an easy rhythm since being in Russia, one she hoped dearly would continue when they got home. She felt him rub her back gently and she looked up at him. "It's time," he whispered and started leading her towards the secluded hallway that led to the study. She saw Digg and Lyla begin to follow them a few minutes later as they made their way to the door. Oliver quickly and quietly took care of two men keeping watch and Digg and Lyla took up their guard positions. Beneath the mansion's old world appearance was state of the art technology which was fortunate for them because Felicity was able to unlock the door electronically. She slipped into the study, Oliver right behind her, and took a seat in the oversized leather chair. She slipped a drive out of her clutch and plugged it into the computer. She could feel Oliver hovering over her shoulder as she attempted to focus on breaking through the firewall.

"Can you please go stand somewhere else? I can't work with you lurking," she ordered without looking up from her screen.

Oliver took a few steps back and she refocused on the task at hand. A few keystrokes later and she had the data they were after copied and transferred. She stood up and stashed the drive back in her clutch.

"You're already finished?" Oliver asked.

"Always the tone of surprise; you would think by now I wouldn't be able to impress you anymore."

"And yet you still do," Oliver replied as they moved towards the door. Voices on the other side stopped them in their tracks.

"Sorry sir, my date and I were just looking for a little privacy," they heard Diggle say.

"Your little rendezvous isn't our concern, we've had word of a security breach though so we'll need to get into the study. If you could please move aside." An unknown voice replied to Digg and Oliver responded quickly and instinctively.

"You're sure you left no traces on the computer?" Oliver asked as he pushed Felicity towards the window.

"Positive."

"Then there's no reason to tip them off to us being here," Oliver continued as he lifted the window.

"Oh you cannot be serious," Felicity looked over the edge of the window and felt her stomach turn.

"Just trust me and hold on tight."

Felicity remembered being in the elevator shaft at Merlyn global and it distracted her from her paralyzing fear as Oliver grabbed her and they slid out the window, closing it behind them. She kept a death grip on him as they rapidly approached the ground. The window wasn't as high as she had thought though and Oliver rolled them so he took the brunt of the fall.

"Oh wow, we're still alive."

"Always the tone of surprise," Oliver teased as he helped her up.

Felicity looked at the disheveled state of his suit and by the look on his face she could only imagine how she looked. Looking down at her dress she saw that it was ripped and wrinkled.

"We should probably call it a night," she suggested and Oliver nodded.

He switched on his comms to let Digg know they had made it out and to meet them at the car.

A slightly disheveled, for different reasons, Digg and Lyla were waiting for them when they got to where they had parked.

"I see you two must have pulled off the _sneaked off for a romantic tryst _cover pretty convincingly," Oliver commented.

"What happened to you two?" Digg asked, ignoring Oliver, "They were pretty baffled when they opened the door to an empty room."

"We jumped out a window. No big deal," Felicity deadpanned as she stepped into the car.

_As Oliver said, to be continued... ;)_

_**I don't know Russian and I didn't want to butcher it with a Google translate attempt so you can just imagine whatever slightly inappropriate comment you want for Anatoli to have said that would cause Oliver to crank up the over-protectiveness :) Thank you for all your reviews on this, I've enjoyed working on something that's a little longer than my usual stuff and your reviews keep me motivated. **_**_Also if you haven't read my Chocolate Cake story, it ties in to this chapter a little so you might want to check it out :)_**


	20. Russia Re-do Part 4

**Russia Re-do Part 4...**

_**This is the final part of the Russia Re-do story, I hope you like the ending :)**_

They walked back into their hotel room hand in hand and Felicity bit her lip nervously. Things had shifted between them before they had left for the party, it was like everything that they had been holding back for so long was about to explode, and then there was Oliver's "To be continued" comment which could easily mean a million different things… so she decided to wait and see what Oliver would do. Her eyes followed him as he walked across the room and removed his suit jacket.

"Are you okay?" he asked, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"What?"

"You look worried about something," he commented and walked over to run his hands up and down her arms like he often did when he was trying to comfort her, "Tonight was a success, you were remarkable as always. If the Bratva were aware of what happened believe me, we would already know. There's no reason to be anxious about it anymore."

Felicity nodded and decided to forego her wait and see plan because she figured he could use a little nudge in the right direction if he thought her mind was still on the mission, "That's good. So I guess now we can…" She trailed off and started to fumble with the buttons on his shirt, feeling him tense up underneath her touch. His reaction caused her to pause, feeling a pang of disappointment that maybe she had misread the situation. She started to pull her hands away but he grabbed her wrists to guide her hands back to their task. Finishing with the buttons, she pushed the shirt off his shoulders onto the floor. He was wearing a t-shirt underneath his button down and she untucked it so he could pull it over his head. She gasped at the sight in front of her.

"Felicity this isn't the first time you've seen me shirtless—"

"No, Oliver, your shoulder!" Felicity exclaimed, drawing his attention to the massive black and purple bruise that was forming, "That must be from hitting the ground so hard. Doesn't it hurt? Do you want some ice?"

She started to walk off in search of some ice when Oliver grabbed her arm, "Felicity. I'm fine. It looks worse than it is."

Felicity sighed at his refusal of her help, but walked back towards him. Her shoes put her at the perfect height to place gentle kisses over the bruised skin.

"Feeling better already, but what about you?" Oliver asked.

"Oh. I don't know. I did slam into you pretty hard… we should probably check."

Felicity blushed, and pushed her glasses up, "I wasn't insinuating, I mean, if you want to, just like clinically, check me out… I'm going to stop talking now."

An amused smile broke out on Oliver's face as he spun her around and reached for her zipper, "Am I only allowed to check you out clinically? Because I've definitely broken that rule… multiple times actually."

The tension dissolved and Felicity laughed while she waited for him to unzip her, and waited, and waited…

"Oliver?"

"Yeah—I don't think this is coming down. It's pretty jammed."

Felicity turned around and tapped her chin thoughtfully, "Hmmm… seeing as it's already pretty torn up and I don't think I'll be getting another wear out of it—"

Oliver caught on to her train of thought and grabbed the top of the bodice to rip it cleanly down the front, sending tiny beads flying all over the floor.

"The housekeeping staff is going to love us," Felicity joked but Oliver was no longer listening to her. She could feel his eyes dragging over every inch of her skin as he circled slowly around and stood behind her.

"All good?"

"Mhmm, very good," Oliver breathed out over her shoulder and Felicity felt a warm, tingly feeling rush from her face all the way to the tips of her toes. She knew he was long past thinking about injuries.

He trailed kisses across her shoulder blades and up the back of her neck, pausing to pull the remaining bobby pins from her hair and comb through it with his fingers.

Felicity turned into his arms and tilted up her chin to meet his lips. His tongue grazed over her bottom lip and she parted them to allow him access. He deepened the kiss as she wrapped her arms tightly around his back and he wound his hands into her hair. Felicity felt her feet leave the ground as Oliver picked her up and walked her over to the edge of the bed. Sitting her down gently, he kneeled in front of her and removed her heels. Her toes flexed and curled, equal parts from relief at being free from her shoes and because of the burning trail Oliver was leaving as he slowly dragged his hands up her legs and hips. He settled his hands back around her waist and placed delicate kisses along her collarbone. Tilting her head back, she allowed him access to her neck. She backed herself up to the head of the bed so she could lie down and Oliver kicked off his shoes to follow her. She could feel her heart pounding as he settled himself on top her and recaptured her lips. She reached down for his belt buckle and started to undo it when Oliver grabbed her wrist.

"Are you sure?"

Her brows knit together in confusion and he continued, "I don't want to push you to do something you don't want to or aren't ready to, I mean if you just want to take things slow-"

Felicity reached up to cradle his face, "You aren't pushing me to do anything. You should know by now that I make my own choices. And as far as taking thing slow… we've been dancing around our feelings for each other for a long time now. I think we've taken things plenty slow. I don't want to wait any longer, because I love you."

Oliver exhaled sharply and a smile started to curl up the edge of his mouth, "Say it again, please."

"I love you Oliver," Felicity repeated with a smile.

Oliver's whole face lit up and he smiled wide, "I love you too."

"I know," Felicity replied, "Now will you please let me take your pants off?"

{4 Days Later}

Felicity woke up to Oliver covering her face in kisses. She opened her eyes slowly and looked at him with fake annoyance.

"I don't think this is going to work if you're this happy at—"she glanced over at the clock, "5 am? Why are you even awake? And more importantly why are you waking me up?"

"We're flying home today, remember? Lyla said the jet was going to be ready for us at 7am, so you need to get up so you can get ready."

Felicity groaned, "Okay first of all, you underestimate how quickly I can get ready when an extra hour of sleep is on the line. Second of all, isn't this a private jet? Shouldn't it just wait for us? Or we could just stay here forever…"

Oliver laughed, "I'm pretty sure ARGUS doesn't wait for anyone. And I'm pretty sure you have a job that you have to get back to. Not to mention the fact that Roy and Laurel are probably ready for us to get back to our nighttime job too."

"But it's been so nice just being here with you," Felicity said with a pout.

"Fortunately then, what happened in Russia won't be staying in Russia," Oliver replied and kissed her on the nose.

**The End**

_**Thank you for reading this story, it was fun to write something a little longer than usual. I'll be back to doing short one shots for a while and if you have prompts you'd like me to do I'd love to hear them :) **_


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